The announcement by the new Medical Director of NHS England, Stephen Powis, regarding Evidence Based Interventions has caused considerable concern within our membership, particularly the likelihood of limited commissioning of certain ENT and hand surgery procedures.
At an Academy of Medical Royal Colleges meeting that I attended earlier this week it was clear that this is the planned direction of travel. When it comes to surgical interventions our College position has always been to champion the role of shared decision making and to avoid unnecessary procedures.
What is also clear from this week’s meeting with Stephen Powis is that we have the opportunity to influence the thresholds for particular operations as well as influencing the inclusion, or not, of some of the procedures on the Evidence Based Intervention Procedures List. The NHS England consultation is open until 28 September and I would encourage you all to engage with this both directly, through your specialist societies and also through the College which will be collating its position based on all of your views. Please submit them to us by 14th September 2018.
NHS England is particularly keen to hear from specialty groups to build on its existing evidence base with regard to these challenging decisions and has reassured me that specific criticisms, which can be supported by evidence, will be taken into account.
To find out more about the consultation please visit: https://www.england.nhs.uk/evidence-based-interventions/ and send your responses to a.rollason@rcsed.ac.uk.
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.
For all media enquiries please contact Ms. Tingy Simoes on 0207 052 8833 or email tsimoes@wavelengthgroup.com.