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23rd October 2015

MPs debate the regulation of cosmetic surgery

Kevan Jones MP led a debate in the House of Commons this week calling for better regulation of cosmetic surgery. Mr Jones became aware of the issue after one of his constituents received cosmetic surgery which damaged her eyes and has been speaking to the RCS about the safeguards that should be introduced.

Mr Jones highlighted our concerns that the law currently allows any doctor, including non-surgeons, to perform cosmetic surgery without undertaking additional training or qualifications.  He supported the RCS’s call for the General Medical Council (GMC) to be given a new legal power to formally formally recognise, and publicly display, additional qualifications or credentials for clinicians trained in cosmetic surgery. He also echoed the RCS’s disappointment that the legislation drafted by the Law Commission on regulation of health and care professionals, which would have given the GMC this new power, was not included in this year’s Queen’s Speech.

However the Minister, Ben Gummer MP, responded by saying that the Government would not prioritise legislation on cosmetic surgery regulation and will instead focus on non-legislative steps. He praised the RCS for leading the Cosmetic Surgery Interspecialty Committee (CSIC), and welcomed the proposed new system of certification so that patients and employers can identify those surgeons that have the appropriate skills and experience to perform cosmetic surgery.  Nevertheless, it will be much more difficult for the GMC to enforce this without a change in the law and the RCS will continue to lobby government for this change.

Drive to save £4bn in surgery over the next five years

The Department of Health announced this week that Professor Tim Briggs, newly appointed National Director for Clinical Quality and Efficiency, RCS Council member and consultant orthopaedic surgeon, will work with Lord Carter to review how savings can be made in the NHS by reducing variation in care.

Professor Briggs led the ‘Getting it right first time’ project on improving orthopaedic care in the NHS and will now work to roll out the programme to nine further clinical specialities. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme (the interview can be heard at 01:09:05), he said that improving quality of care and reducing post-operative complications, including infection rates, could bring savings of about £4 billion a year across surgery. He also suggested other savings could be made in the NHS by improving procurement.

As part of Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency, 137 NHS acute hospital trusts in England have been given detailed plans showing the specialties where a total of £5 billion worth of savings can be made. For example, potential savings of £286 million and £234 million could be made in trauma and orthopaedics, and general surgery respectively.

Public Health England releases long-awaited sugar report

Public Health England (PHE) has released its report into the evidence for sugar reduction, in the same week Jamie Oliver and the PHE Chief Executive, Duncan Selbie gave evidence to the Health Select Committee’s inquiry into childhood obesity. This follows speculation that ministers wanted to delay the publication of the report until the launch of the government’s obesity strategy in January

The report has put forward the following key recommendations to reduce sugar consumption:

  • a sugar tax between 10% and 20%
  • significantly reducing advertising high sugar food and drink to children – including the use of children’s TV characters and price promotions.
  • targeting supermarkets and take-away special offers
  • sugar reduction in everyday food and drink
  • ensure the sale of healthier foods in hospitals and other public bodies

It states that if the UK were to meet the SACN target of 5% of energy being sugar within the next ten years we would save £484 million per year by avoiding deaths and preventing 204,000 dental caries.

In response to the report, Professor Nigel Hunt, Dean the Faculty of Dental Surgery commented: “We are pleased this long awaited report has finally been published and that it considers how we can reduce the impact of sugar on oral health as well as obesity…as the vast majority of dental problems are preventable, the Government needs to fully consider these proposals and take firm action.” The Faculty is continuing to raise awareness of the need to improve children’s oral health following our reports ‘The state of children’s oral health in England’ and ‘Actions for the government to improve oral health’. 

Scottish government to build new elective treatment centres 

The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon announced six new elective treatment centres are to be built at a cost of £200 million. These will carry out procedures like hip, knees and cataract surgery.

The new centres will be based at St John’s in Livingston, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, and will receive referrals from Health Boards across Scotland. The Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank will also be extended. The centres will allow people to be treated more quickly for planned surgery and the facilities will help the NHS meet increasing demand from a growing elderly population, taking pressure off unplanned and emergency treatment.

The First Minister said “By 2037, the number of people in our population who are over 70 will increase by 50 per cent. The numbers over 75 will increase by 80 per cent. Those changing demographics will demand new ways of thinking and new ways of working right across our society - but especially in our NHS.”

Junior doctors to vote on industrial action

The BMA Junior Doctors’ Committee announced on Wednesday that it will send out ballot papers for industrial action over the proposed new contract for junior doctors in England on 5 November, which will close on Wednesday 18 November. The announcement follows rallies by junior doctors held last weekend in London, Nottingham and Belfast.

Wiltshire CCG facing serious financial challenges

Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has written a letter to members setting out its ‘dire’ financial situation, and has notified NHS England that they will miss their financial target for 2015/16. The CCG is drawing up a Financial Recovery Plan, as requested by NHS England, and will have two months to prove that actions are being taken to ensure financial stability.

The letter states that the CCG will have to cut back on its current activity, as it cannot afford to fund the current level of excess demand. Measures that will be taken forward include capping the amount of planned care activity and establishing pre-referral clinics to ascertain whether acute care intervention is necessary. We will continue to monitor the CCG’s activities to assess the impact on surgical care.

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