The RCS England SUPPORT Improvement Collaborative
Surgeon Peer-led Post-incident Response Teams Improvement Collaborative (SUPPORT), is a unique initiative aimed at improving the support systems provided to surgeons after adverse events across the UK.
Recruitment is now open for SUPPORT2 and will close on 30 September 2025.
This improvement collaborative aims to strengthen peer-led support systems for surgeons following adverse events and improve wellbeing across surgical teams. We are recruiting 20 trusts and health boards across the UK to join this second phase.
Watch our recent recruitment webinar.
This session will provided a behind-the-scenes look at how the collaborative works, the support and guidance your team will receive and the potential benefits for your trust or board.
Register your Trust or Health Board by 30 September 2025
Read The RCS England SUPPORT collaborative: where are we and what next? in the June 2025 edition of the Bulletin.
Background
Listen to Mr Kevin Turner, Clinical Lead for SUPPORT introduce the SUPPORT project and it's purpose.
Adverse events are a part of surgery, and we know that they impact the wellbeing of surgeons both personally and professionally. Despite this, the profession has been slow to recognise the breadth and depth of the impact on surgeons in the UK and slower still in considering how it should respond.
RCS England’s Supporting Surgeons After Adverse Events good practice guidance provides information on mitigating the impact of such events on surgeons, enabling better patient care and enhancing professional satisfaction.
To help implement this guidance into mainstream surgical practice, RCS England set up SUPPORT in 2024.
SUPPORT aims to work with sites introduce, develop, and maintain the practical approaches described by the RCS England’s Supporting Surgeons After Adverse Events good practice guidance.
SUPPORT1 ran from December 2023 to March 2025.
To build on the success of SUPPORT1 we are now recruiting to SUPPORT2.
SUPPORT2 Project Outline
We are recruiting 20 sites from the UK who will design, deliver, sustain and evaluate a peer to peer support system to support surgeons after an adverse event.
The project team delivering SUPPORT is a multi-professional team with expertise in surgery, psychology, Quality Improvement and QI project support.
Project team
Mr Kevin Turner - Consultant Urological Surgeon and Visiting Professor
Mr Arjun Nambiar - Consultant Urological Surgeon
Dr Maddy Greville-Harris - Clinical Psychologist, Senior Lecturer
Dr Olivia Donnelly - Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Sheena MacSween – Programme Manager
Join SUPPORT2
Recruitment for SUPPORT2 is now live.
There is a one-off cost of £7,500 (plus VAT) per trust or health board to join the project. In addition, trusts and health boards need to cover their travel and expenses to any in-person meetings.
The named project lead should be allocated 0.25 PA per week in their job plan to lead the project locally.
Register your Trust or Health Board’s by 30 September 2025.
SUPPORT2 planned timeline
- Recruitment, payment and pre-launch
January 2025–June 2025
- Set-up and planning
July 2025–December 2025
- Improvement Collaborative – live phase
January 2026–March 2027
- Evaluation and reporting
April 2027–September 2027
More information about SUPPORT can be found here.