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03 Jan 2018
Yesterday NHS England’s National Emergency Pressures Panel noted that the NHS has been ‘under sustained pressure over the Christmas period’. The Panel recommended that trusts defer non-urgent inpatient elective care until the end of January and that day-case procedures and routine patient appointments ‘should also be deferred where this will release clinical time for non-elective care’. Derek Alderson, President of the Royal College of Surgeons has commented on this decision.
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30 Dec 2017
Clare Marx has been made a dame in today’s New Year’s Honours List and Professor Tim Briggs, RCS Council member, has been awarded a CBE for services to the surgical profession.
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21 Dec 2017
In recent days a number of newspapers have reported that cabinet ministers are discussing whether the European Working Time Directive (EWTD) should continue to apply following Brexit. On Monday the Prime Minister told the House of Commons that the Government would ‘maintain, and indeed enhance, workers’ rights. This morning, the Guardian are reporting that the BMA have urged Theresa May to stand firm against Brexiters who want to scrap European laws, warning of risks to patient safety.
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21 Dec 2017
The new National Emergency Pressures Panel (NEPP)has said that non-urgent inpatient elective care should be deferred until mid-January to ensure beds and staff are available for the sickest patients. By acting early Trusts can avoid last minute cancellations that can be costly and inconvenient for patients.
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07 Dec 2017
he Government has launched an independent national Inquiry following the malpractice of jailed surgeon Ian Paterson. The Government says the new independent Non-Statutory Inquiry will examine the circumstances and practices surrounding Ian Paterson’s malpractice to learn and share lessons. The Right Reverend Graham James, Bishop of Norwich, will chair the Inquiry.
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06 Dec 2017
The Royal College of Surgeons has launched an independent Commission to explore the future of surgical care in the next twenty years. The Commission on the Future of Surgery will identify and explore the innovations that will most likely affect surgical treatment.
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30 Nov 2017
NHS England has today announced a reconfiguration of congenital heart disease services in England. This follows a consultation on how new quality standards for hospitals providing congenital heart disease services, published in 2015, would be put in place.
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30 Nov 2017
At this morning’s NHS England board meeting the organisation warned that budget shortfalls will continue to hit waiting times for surgery and other types of planned treatment.
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30 Nov 2017
New statistics released this morning show the number of patients waiting more than one year for treatment in Northern Ireland continue to rise at an alarming rate.
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22 Nov 2017
The number of patients who die in hospital following an operation to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) continues to fall according to the National Vascular Registry 2017 annual report published today by the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland (VSGBI) and the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS). Of the just over 13,000 patients who had a planned operation to repair an aneurysm between 2014 and 2016, the proportion who died in hospital after surgery was 1.4%, which represents approximately 130 patients lives saved each year compared to figures published in 2012.
