The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh notes that the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman upheld a complaint from a patient due to a five month wait for a knee operation this week. RCSEd does not usually comment on individual cases but delays in treatment and reductions in the percentage of patients being treated within the Treatment Time Guarantee of 12 weeks are increasing due to many different factors.
Increasing delays are being seen due to a shortage of human, infrastructure and financial resource within the NHS. We understand that these delays can have hugely detrimental impacts upon patients. RCSEd supports the assertion’s made by Lord Darzi in his interim report released yesterday that multi-year funding is essential to ensure the NHS can make longer term plans to address the current pressures and the NHS will require new ways of working in order to provide effective, timely healthcare
RCSEd (www.rcsed.ac.uk) was first incorporated as the Barber Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1505, and is the oldest surgical corporation in the world with memberships approaching 25,000 professionals in over 100 countries worldwide. The College promotes the highest standards of surgical and dental practice through its interest in education, training and examinations, its liaison with external medical bodies and representation of the modern surgical and dental workforce. It is also home to the UK’s only Faculty of Surgical Trainers, open to all those with an interest in surgical training regardless of College affiliation. Find RCSEd on Twitter www.twitter.com/RCSEd and on Facebook www.facebook.com/rcsed
The College is based at Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9DW and can be reached on (0)131 527 1600 or mail@rcsed.ac.uk. In March 2014, a new base opened in Birmingham, catering to the 80% of the College’s UK membership who are based in England and Wales.
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