Our children's anaesthetists look after children having surgery and other procedures such as MRI scans. We look after all ages, from tiny babies as small as 500g to 16 year-olds.

Children come for surgery in Southampton from a huge area; Dorchester and Yeovil to the west to Chichester in the east, the Isle of Wight to the south and Basingstoke and Frimley to the north.

Much of our work is in day surgery. Day patients usually come to the John Atwell day ward on G level. Most of the other children’s wards are on G level too, and have specialist children’s nurses. Children having heart surgery or brain surgery are looked after separately.

We have other specialist children’s services to support your child after anaesthesia – a paediatric intensive care unit and high dependency unit, specialist children’s physiotherapists, pharmacists, play therapists and many others.

Children's pain team

We have a children’s pain team offering a wide range of ways of controlling pain, run by nurses experienced in assessing pain and treating it appropriately and safely. Our pain nurses are trained and certified to prescribe drugs for pain and to treat side effects. The ward nurses are trained in pain assessment and in pain management too.

Information leaflets

The Royal College of Anaesthetists has produced a range of leaflets for children, parents and carers, find out more here.

Contact us

These numbers may be useful, depending on which ward you have been in:

John Atwell day ward, 023 8120 6157
G3 children’s orthopaedics, 023 8120 6486
G4 children’s surgery, 023 8120 6718
Department of anaesthetics office, 023 8120 6720

Children's anaesthesia