Our Manifesto for Surgery

Most recent figures show that only 84.7% of patients were seen within 18 weeks, far below the statutory target of 92%. In October 2019, 681,624 had been waiting more than 18 weeks. We are calling for a five-year plan to tackle lengthening waits for operations. Crucial to that plan is protecting and upholding patients’ rights to a maximum wait of 18 weeks, delivering at least 3,000 extra beds for patients, an improved workforce strategy, improvements to hospital infrastructure and a sustainable social care system.

Surgeons, along with many other senior doctors, have been concerned about the impact of changes to pension taxation rules on patient access to surgery. Under tapered annual allowance rules introduced in April 2016, many clinicians have been in effect ‘paying to work’ if they take on additional sessions. Our research highlights the negative effect this has had on waits for surgery, staff retention and surgical training. During the election, we welcomed an announcement from NHS England of a partial solution, to cover the 2019/20 tax year. We are calling on the new government to ensure a permanent solution is found that abolishes the NHS pensions ‘tax trap’.

We are keen to ensure that the best interests of patients and clinicians are placed at the heart of future negotiations on the future trading relationship with the EU. The implications for the NHS and wider health and care system of a ‘no-deal’ exit, which could still occur at the end of 2020, must be considered at the highest levels of the government’s decision making. A failure to do so could have huge consequences for the lives and wellbeing of millions of people.

We sponsored an independent Commission on the Future of Surgery which reported one year ago. We are calling on the government to ensure these recommendations are enacted, so that new technologies are rolled out safely and equitably across the NHS. This includes a robotics strategy to ensure surgical teams are trained in how to use robots in the operating theatre, and a comprehensive registry of all new surgical procedures and implants, to help monitor their safe use in patients.

The Faculty of Dental Surgery at the RCS has been campaigning to improve the oral health of children and adults. The Faculty is calling for a national supervised tooth brushing scheme for children, the extension of the soft drinks industry levy to sugary dairy drinks, and training in oral health for professionals who work with at-risk older people.