Northern Ireland
The College is represented in Northern Ireland by a Professional Board, which comprises 10 elected specialty surgeons; a member elected by the Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT); the Chair of QUB Medical School Surgical Society; the Head of the School of Surgery and an RCS Council member. The NI Director is Professor Mark Taylor CStJ PhD FRCSI FRCS(Eng).
Our Northern Ireland Board
The purpose of the Board is to improve surgical outcomes for patients, advocate locally and support the dissemination of good practice and professional guidance. Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been determined in our efforts to ensure that surgeons and surgical teams are supported in delivering vital patient care and are not exposed to unnecessary risk.
Meetings
Board members regularly meet with the Health Minister, his senior team and Health Committee to communicate on core challenges and opportunities impacting both patients and the profession.
Our activity
In 2021 the NI Board and staff have responded to a range of consultations expected to impact on surgical activities including Organ Donation, the Draft Budget and Programme for Government.
In Northern Ireland, the work of the Board differs to those in England. Devolution has delivered increasingly divergent systems across the 4 UK nations. A core priority for the Northern Ireland Board is to strengthen relationships between surgeons and policy makers to advance surgical standards and continue to improve the quality of local health services and patient outcomes. This priority will be reflected in the focus of upcoming meetings where we expect to engage regularly with HSC management colleagues, elected representatives and government officials. The Board in Northern Ireland is striving to find ways to improve our communication with colleagues and will provide regular updates on these pages of the College website. If you have any suggestions for improving local communication please contact Áine Magee, your Northern Ireland Policy & Public Affairs Manager.
Consultation responses
- Programme for Government, draft outcomes framework - 22 March 2021
- Organ donation consultation for Northern Ireland - 18 Feb 2021
- Northern Ireland draft budget - 25 February 2021
Get in touch
- publicaffairs@rcseng.ac.uk
- amagee@rcseng.ac.uk (Áine Magee, Northern Ireland Policy and Public Affairs Manager)