Press releases

29 Oct 2019 The RCS is urging Boris Johnson to follow through on a pledge he made last summer to resolve the NHS pensions ‘tax trap’, before winter arrives. Amid record waiting times, the RCS warns that patients will face even longer waits this winter if the Government doesn’t take swift action. 69% of consultant surgeons have reduced the amount of time they have spent working in the NHS as a direct result of changes to pension taxation rules.

18 Oct 2019 A quality improvement (QI) collaborative setup by the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) has significantly improved early surgery rates for patients with gallstone-related conditions according to a study published in BJS Open this week. Gallstone-related conditions can be very painful, reducing quality of life for patients awaiting surgery, and have the potential to lead to serious complications, such as pancreatitis. Removal of the gallbladder and stones, an operation called a cholecystectomy, soon after diagnosis, is the recommend treatment for symptomatic patients.

16 Oct 2019 Plastic surgeons from the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) and the British Burn Association are warning that children can face years of gruelling operations and treatment following preventable burns or scalds, such as from hot tea or coffee spillages. New figures from the International Burn Injury Database (iBID) show there were 35,007 child admissions to designated specialised burn services in England and Wales in the past five years (2014-2018).

10 Oct 2019 Professor Derek Alderson, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS), has warned that NHS hospitals could face a ‘perfect storm’ of winter pressures, Brexit and the NHS pensions crisis, and urged the government to help the NHS get shipshape fast.

04 Oct 2019 The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) Library has launched its first ever digital exhibition, Medicinae Plantae: healing plants through time. The exhibition is a collection of striking images from rare texts, such as Hortus Malabaricus by Hendrik van Rheede, which highlight the important role of herbalism in medical education from the late 15th up to the 19th century.

01 Oct 2019 The RCS is supporting NHS Providers’ #RebuildOurNHS campaign, which calls for a multi-year financial settlement that will allow us to plan for the future.

20 Sep 2019 Following the publication of Public Health England’s “Sugar reduction: report on progress between 2015 and 2018” Professor Michael Escudier, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons, said: “We welcome publication of Public Health England’s progress report today, which gives us a clear picture of which sugar reduction policies are working, and where more needs to be done."

19 Sep 2019 Tooth decay remains the leading reason for hospitals admissions among 5 to 9 year olds, according to data published by NHS Digital today. The number of admissions for tooth decay was more than double those for acute tonsillitis, which is the second highest cause of hospital admissions for 5 to 9 year olds.

12 Sep 2019 The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) has said it is vital the government’s consultation on the pensions issue that has been exacerbating NHS waiting times delivers a solution before the busy winter period starts. The RCS’s comments come as the number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment reached its highest in over a decade (since May 2008) at over 620,000.

12 Sep 2019 We are saddened to learn of the death of former Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) President Sir Norman Browse. Sir Norman had a distinguished career as a vascular surgeon and served as RCS President from 1992 to 1995.