The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh is gravely concerned, but regrettably not surprised, by the findings of the GMC’s National Training Survey with regards to poor and discriminatory behaviour experienced by surgical trainees.
RCSEd President Professor Rowan Parks commented:
We at RCSEd have a long track record of addressing bullying, undermining and other poor behaviours perpetrated by a small minority of people within the surgical team, such as our long-running ‘Lets Remove It’ campaign. This report however highlights the scale of the problem faced by our trainees and others, and how far behind our colleagues in surgery are to other specialties and the wider society. We are particularly alarmed that one in ten surgical trainees report being the subject of unwanted sexual comments or advances in the workplace, something which is utterly unacceptable.
We do welcome the inclusion of these questions in the GMC’s National Training Survey, because gathering data on this is the first step to addressing it. We would like to thank those who responded to the survey for having the courage to respond with their experiences.
Culture change is always a long and difficult process, and in this instance it is also long-overdue. Surgery as a profession must move towards reducing and eradicating bullying, undermining, micro-aggressions and sexual comments or advances within the surgical team and more widely.
A majority of trainees do find their experiences are positive, leading not only to a happier workforce but also to better patient outcomes. We as a College will continue to strive to make that the experience of all our trainees.
- RCSEd was first incorporated as the Barber Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1505 and is based in Edinburgh and Birmingham.
- It is one of the oldest surgical corporations in the world with a global membership of more than 32,000, including 15,000 members in the UK.
- The College also has a significant worldwide presence with members in over 100 countries.
- The College promotes the highest standards of surgical and dental practice through education, training and examinations, its liaison with external medical bodies and representation of the modern surgical and dental workforce.
- The College has six faculties: The Faculty of Dental Surgery, The Faculty of Surgical Trainers, The Faculty of Dental Trainers, The Faculty of Perioperative Care, The Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care and The Faculty of Remote, Rural and Humanitarian Healthcare.
- 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 at www.rcsed.ac.uk, on X (formerly known as Twitter), on Facebook, and Instagram.
For further information, please contact comms@rcsed.ac.uk