The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh

97surgeonsnews october 200996 surgeonsnews october 2009 97surgeonsnews october 200996 surgeonsnews october 2009

THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS

E D I N B U R G H

09Annual Report

Contents

99. President’s Address 100. Chief Executive’s Report 101. Education Directorate 102. Examinations 103. Standards Directorate104. Research Board 105. Training Directorate106. Heritage 107. Faculty of Dental Surgery108. Faculty of Health Informatics 109. Faculty of Pre-hospital Care110. Treasurer’s Report

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99surgeonsnews october 200998 surgeonsnews october 2009

Mr J D OrrPresident’s Address

This year I have emphasised that we are experienc-ing the most signifi cant

transformation in the delivery of British healthcare since the introduction of the National Health Service. This is the result of the introduction of Modernis-ing Medical Careers, with the associated transition from a consultant-led to a consultant-delivered service and, in August 2009, the impact of the introduc-tion of the European Working Time Regulations. The challenge for the College is how to support the continued delivery of very high surgical standards for our patients, while delivering excel-lence across surgical training programmes. We have recog-nised that, in future, training must be delivered in a more focused manner which will include increasing utilisation of the simu-lation and laboratory facilities in Quincentenary Hall along with hospital-based, focused training, which will produce consultants who are prepared to manage the demands of both emergency surgery and their future special-ist practice.

Revalidation is now with us, with the introduction, in November this year by the

requirements demanded by their national authorities. We need to rebuild bridges with our col-leagues internationally in order to assure them that the UK will continue to provide a valuable high-quality training experience for overseas doctors.

During the last three years, the College has continued to play a major role in surgery in the UK and abroad. We ensured that the College’s voice was heard positively during the intro-duction of MMC for specialty training with our innovative programmes relating to the selection process now being

GMC, of a licensing procedure for all doctors who wish to practice medicine in the UK. Recertifi cation for surgeons will be supported through the College’s ePortfolio which will provide a secure location for all the information required for the whole revalidation process including the logbook, profes-sional activities, audits, reporting and peer analysis capabilities, and a CPD recording mecha-nism. All of these are now available to our Fellowship and will make a major contribution to the ease with which surgeons can navigate this process. This is only one of a range of benefi ts which the College provides to support Fellows and Members throughout their careers.

We are both a national and international College and, despite all the uncertainty surrounding the future for international medical graduates within the UK, this College’s management of the International Medical Graduates Sponsor-ship Scheme has resulted in a considerable number of young surgeons from overseas achieving placements in UK training programmes, which allowed them to complete the

utilised across the UK. We have worked with our partners and PMETB to manage many of the tensions which surrounded the Article 14 route to the Specialist Register, culminating in new improved guidelines this year. We have made a major contribu-tion to Recertifi cation for surgery through our involvement in the intercollegiate and pan-specialty groups and I will re-emphasise that the continued development of our ePortfolio will reinforce surgeons’ progress through the Revalidation process.

Overseas, we have strength-ened our partnerships and look forward to increasing the number of Fellows and Members from the emerging European nations, the Middle and Far East. The internal restructuring which is now taking place within the Col-lege will ensure that we are able to focus more clearly on our core business, which are the needs of our Fellowship and Membership and the continued delivery of all our professional activities. Your Council has strived to build on the foundations created by their predecessors to ensure a continuing strong position for the College allowing for even greater developments in the future.


Your Council has strived to build on the foundations created by their predecessors to ensure a continuing strong position for the College


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Chief Executive’s ReportMs Alison Rooney

As I started to write this report, it struck me that October 2008, when I took over as Chief Executive, seemed a long time ago – indeed, almost at the end of the fi nancial year in question. In that regard, I would like to thank my predecessor, Mr Jim Foster, for all his work in 2008 and for supporting me during my early weeks in post.

Governance reviewDuring the year we initiated a review of the governance structure of the College which included looking at the legal structure, reporting lines to Council and Trustee repre-sentation and liability. As a result, we are in process of incorporating the Hill Square Education Trust and mothballing Surgeons Hall Trust. Recognising the importance of heritage to the College, the Council will be establishing a Heritage Board to advise it on heritage matters, with a view to activating Surgeons Hall Trust once funds are available for heritage development.

As a Charity, the College must pay partic-ular attention to fi nancial governance and we have been busy streamlining the internal decision-making structures and setting up Audit and Investment Committees, both of which include external expert representation.

Membership and communicationsIn 2008, our overall Membership numbers fell slightly – as the heart of our College, this is a key priority for us moving forward. It is imperative that we have meaningful, two-way engagement with you which keeps you informed, represents your interests and views and delivers real benefi ts. The new Regional Surgical Advisors team will play an important role in this also.

The College’s membership database is essential to all this work but it has many gaps. Your participation in our various activi-ties to plug these gaps would be very much appreciated.

College operationsHaving an effi cient and effective organisa-tion is key to our aim of increasing the resources available for delivering serv-ices and benefi ts to the membership, consistent with our new strategic plan for 2010 and beyond. As such, we have been undertaking a full organisation review, the outcome of which will streamline delivery processes and allow us to invest in new areas. Our new Membership and Commu-nications department will be crucial in our recruitment, retention and servicing of the membership.

Operationally, we have also strengthened our procurement procedures and have delivered both cost-savings and enhanced provision in gas, IT infrastructure and a range of professional services. The recent decision with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland to outsource The Surgeon is also a major step forward.

It is imperative that we have meaningful, two-way engagement with you which keeps you informed, represents your interests and views and delivers real benefi ts

Financial sustainabilityI am confi dent that all the above will ensure that the College continues to deliver an overall annual surplus, as it has done in 2008. However, real fi nancial sustainability will only be realised if we can generate funds beyond the core professional activi-ties of the College. We will continue to do this through the further development of our commercial arm, Surgeons Lodge Limited – I would like to congratulate Joanne Hannah and her team for another successful year and one in which they were awarded Best Small City Hotel in the 2009 Scottish Hotel awards.

Through the generosity of a benefactor, we are in the process of setting up a Devel-opment and Appeals Offi ce to fundraise for the maintenance of the Playfair Building, heritage and education activities.

Finally, I would like to thank all staff for their help and support, especially during this time of signifi cant change. In particular, the Senior Team of Allan Wood, Tony Oxford and Charles Macmillan, who have worked tirelessly on carrying out the organisation review and restructuring. It has been a busy time – I forecast the future will be busier still and I look forward to working with Fellows, Members and Affi liates as we progress through 2009 and beyond.

Since my last report we have continued to extend the course portfolio based on the cadav-eric freezing facility. We are particularly pleased with a new course based on the cadaveric abdomen allowing middle-grade trainees to rehearse common surgical emergencies.

A recent exciting appointment of a Military Professor of Ortho-paedic and Trauma Surgery promises to extend the scope of this kind of emergency surgical rehearsal.

Partnership developmentWe are also grateful to the Pilmuir House Trust for so generously contributing towards a new Lectureship with the University of Edinburgh in Anatomy. On the basis of this appointment, next year we intend to set up a postgraduate teaching diploma course for people who wish to teach anatomy to medical students and surgeons. Any retired surgeons interested in such a diploma should contact me via

Education DirectorateEducation, Leadership, and Professional DevelopmentProfessor David Rowley, Director

The growing evidence that

better team working leads to better outcomes

for patients is now irrefutable

the Department of Education.The ESSQ is moving to the

fi nal stage of its development. Following a very successful year, during which we retained all the fi rst and second year students, we are looking forward to a further cadre of about 100.

Support for training in AfricaAfrica is a massive continent and it is very important we apply focus to our activities, and with the University of Edinburgh we are looking to develop a skills escalator from the rural medical offi cer all the way up to the experienced surgeon. This will be a matter of long-term capacity building and the development of a sustain-able programme that African surgeons can run for them-selves.

Safety coursePatient safety remains a pillar of the College and our frustrations in being unable to attract people to in-house courses has caused us to take a change of direction.

With the Director of Standards we have now instigated a course we take out to hospitals and we would welcome bids from hospitals to have us come and spend a day with their surgical teams, which must include anaesthetists and nurses. The growing evidence that better team working leads to better outcomes for patients is now irrefutable.

It is also time to report that I am standing down as Director of Education after over six years in post. I feel the time is right for a new person to have an opportu-nity to develop our educational strategy. It has been a privilege to serve this institution at this high level. I believe we have been successful in instigating a fi rm educational programme but this would have been impossible without the team, in particular Lorraine Judge and the Educa-tion Team, Sarah Sholl and the Skills Lab Team, and Caroline Smith and the ESSQ and Affi liate Scheme teams.


ExaminationsMr Mike Lavelle-Jones and Mr Robert Mason,Co-conveners of Examinations

2008 has been another busy year for the RCSEd examinations section. During the year we held 50 different examinations spread over 141 diets in a total of 182 loca-tions worldwide, processing over 6,500 candidates. Examiner recruitment remains strong across all specialties and now tops 800. In recognition of the major contribution made to the College, the panels of exam-iners have been given their own Faculty status within the College. Chris Oliver, Co-Convener of Examinations resigned in October 2008 to take up the Chairmanship of ICBSE – a key role for the future of UK examinations.

UK examinationsIn the UK, events have been dominated by the successful launch of the Intercollegiate MRCS OSCE. To date, a total of 390 candi-dates have been examined over three diets of the examination. These were held in the Quincentenary Hall, which has proven to be an excellent facility. This groundbreaking examination has been extremely well-received by candidates and examiners alike.

Overseas examinationsLast year the examinations overseas were disrupted by terrorist attacks in India. This led to the last minute cancellation of diets of the exam in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. Fortunately, improved security has allowed us to return to India and diets are planned for Delhi and Chennai, and for Hyderabad in early 2010. Elsewhere we saw the introduction of the new MHKICBSC examination in Hong Kong which, with the approval of training centres in mainland China, opens many possibilities.

The MRCS examination continues to run successfully in Singapore and we hope to run the new OSCE format in this centre in due course. Demand for Parts 1 and 2 MRCS remains strong in many countries and we are exploring new centres for the Part 3 examination in the Middle and Far East, which will help us to meet the need to deliver Part 3 when this examination fi nishes in the UK at the end of 2010.

The Tripartite FRCSEd/FCSHK/FAMS continues to be in demand in Hong Kong and Singapore as a good assessment of completion of training in surgery, and we look forward to developing this exam with our partners to meet their needs in the future.


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In recognition of the major contribution made to the College, the panels of examiners have been given their own Faculty status within the College

Dental examinationsIn autumn 2009, Liz Davenport demits offi ce as Convener of Dental Examinations. Her tenure has been marked by a thorough overhaul of the entire examination portfolio of the Dental Faculty along with the introduc-tion of two new examinations; a diploma in Implant Dentistry and a modernised FDS by assessment. Her work will continue under the direction of Peter Durning who takes offi ce in November.

Next yearThe MRCS OSCE will continue in the UK with a few amendments based on experience over the past year. As mentioned, the Parts 1, 2, and 3 MRCS examination will cease in the UK from the end of 2010 but will continue to be delivered overseas. Elsewhere we look to the delivery of a new format FRCSEd Ophthalmology examination both in the UK and overseas. We anticipate that the uptake for the Diploma in Immediate Medical Care will continue to grow steadily.

As always, we remain indebted to the hard work undertaken by our staff in the Exami-nations Section and in the Information and Examination Application Section who, despite impossibly tight deadlines, never fail to deliver an impeccable service to our candidates.

The Standards Team has concen-trated its efforts during 2009 in three major areas: patient safety; Recertifi cation and Revalidation; and College conference activities.

Patient safetyThe Patient Safety Board (www.patientsafetyboard.org) has developed an outreach course on surgical safety in theatres – Safer Operative Surgery (SOS); it continues to develop its understanding of Non-Technical Skills (NOTSS Masterclass) and, in conjunction with NHS Institute for Improvement and Innovation, it is developing a curriculum for patient safety applicable to all disciplines in medicine. The College also advises the Scot-tish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) on matters related to surgical safety. Fellows are asked to approach their Boards and Trusts if they are interested in the College running the SOS course in their hospital.

Conference activitiesThe Surgical Outcomes and Recertifi cation (SOAR) Confer-ence was held in February 2009 and produced an informative exchange of ideas and proposals on items for use in Revalidation across all the specialties.

The Annual Audit Symposium, held in March 2009, was once again well attended, with the Surgeon in Training Medal being awarded to Dr Jeniffer Goodbody (Aberdeen) and the McKeown Medal being awarded to Dr Nick Pace for his lecture Putting the ‘T’ Back into Morality.

RevalidationThe process, content, timing, implications and available support relating to Revalidation are being processed and refi ned by all Col-leges and specialty associations. The Health Departments have introduced National Delivery Boards, with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and Scot-tish Academy of Colleges and Faculties representing the profes-sional phase during construction of the process. The RCSEd has representation in all of these sectors and resolves to represent the best interests of our Fellows from a collegiate and specialty perspective.

An important facility for Recertifi cation will be the use of the College’s ePortfolio as a source of information and data as well as a repository that will allow consolidation and presentation of information in a revalidation ‘ready’ fashion. This Revalidation folder will allow real-time access and the key features will be:

• The logbook• CPD diary• Record of Audit/Morbidity and

Mortality activity• Current professional profi le

(including non-clinical duties)• Specialty delivered Multi-

source Feedback.

For more information from the RCSEd on Revalidation, visit: www.rcsed.ac.uk/site/988/default.aspx

iPhone users can now download the RCSEd applet from iTunes or

Appshopper, at no charge, giving immediate access to the website at the touch of an icon.

Next stepsCompletion of Revalidation planning, piloting and refi ning will probably start in 2011. This College will position itself to support its Fellows in all ways possible, including remediation if applicable. Our position is that, having determined the standards and content, the process must be as simple as possible – there is no wish for the RCSEd to act as a regulator of its Fellows. A series of information seminars is proposed for the next 12 months.

• The fl agship meeting for 2010 – Reshaping the Surgical Workforce on 12 February – will concentrate on defi ning and training the workforce of the future, attempting to accommodate the recent emergence of several unpre-dicted variables.

• Our Safety Board will continue to explore behaviours and attitudes that predict optimal individual and team perform-ance by surgeons and the surgical team. Integration of this work into the syllabus and curricula is challenging.

• Professor Graham Layer will deliver the McKeown Lecture for the 2010 Audit Symposium on 12 March and, as well as prizes for the best paper, a best poster medal will be delivered.

Standards DirectorateProfessor George G Youngson CBE, Director of Standards


This year has been very rewarding for the Research Board. We continue to receive a plethora of high quality research applications and consequently maintain a high level of funding. The policy of the Board has been to support surgical research throughout the ‘surgical journey’ and we now have in place grants and awards that range from the undergraduate summer project to joint fellow-ships with organisations such as the Medical Research Council. The re-introduction of the Syme Medal has proved very successful, with the quality of applicants prompting the Board to award four medals this year.

Funding strategyWhile we have awarded grants to a record total level, the Board has not been immune to the realities of the current global fi nancial crisis. With members of Council we have been very active in developing a funding strategy for the Research Board and hope that this will provide a robust platform for further fundraising in the future.

Research BoardProfessor Ken Fearon, Chairman


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Research BoardProfessor Fearon – ChairmanProfessor F C CampbellProfessor J H DarkProfessor R LittleProfessor J P McDonaldProfessor A H R W SimpsonProcessor C Michael SteelProfessor R J C SteeleProfessor P McCollumMr C WidgerowitzDr J BurrMr D TolleyMr J Foster (to October 2008)Ms A Rooney (from October 2008)

Ophthalmolgy Sub-CommitteeProfessor K Fearon – Chairman Dr A AdamsDr D G CharterisDr B W FleckProcessor J V ForresterProfessor B BhillonProfessor G DuttonProfessor A DickMr R Hellewell (Royal Blind & Scottish War Blinded)Mr D TolleyMr J Foster (to October 2008)Ms A Rooney (from October 2008)

Despite all the changes in surgical training, there is still a substantial proportion of surgical trainees who value the opportunity to undertake a period of research

Support for researchOverall, it is evident that research lies not only at the core of good surgical practice but that, despite all the changes in surgical training, there is still a substantial proportion of surgical trainees who value the opportu-nity to undertake a period of research. The Board is fully committed to exploring the fullest possible range of awards to support

the research activities of Fellows both outside and within the academic tracks now established in the UK. Recently we were pleased to receive approval from Council to allow support of research undertaken by Fellows outside the UK.

The Board was delighted to be able to award grants totaling £847,742. This total included eight small research grants (£62,540), six Fellowships, two Professor-ships (£387,893), two joint MRC Fellowships (£231,332), three Student Summer Bursaries (£2,550), four Syme Medals, and a group of ophthalmology research grants (£163,427).

The Board remains extremely grateful to all its members for their sterling work and to those who provide continuing fi nancial resource.

This has been a busy year for the Training Department. The range of activities has been wide and has featured initiatives at home in the form of the Regional Surgical Advisers programme as well as international activi-ties such as the International Medical Graduate Sponsorship Scheme and overseas hospital inspections. The department’s activities have been ably super-vised by Mariel Roy as the Head of Information and Examination Application Section, supported by a staff of fi ve.

Regional Surgical AdvisersCouncil agreed to a six-month pilot in which fi ve consultant surgeons were appointed as Regional Surgical Advisers in Scotland and England. Their primary remit was to make contact with deaneries, surgical societies, local specialty asso-ciations and training programme directors and in this they have reported some success.

At a recent review of their activities, the role of the Regional Surgical Advisers in recruiting medical students into surgery was acknowledged as an important function. Further activities include supporting Fellows and Members through training as well as Revalida-tion. The detail of this part of their role has yet to be clari-fi ed although it is clear that the College has a function as a standard-setter to provide continuity for surgical standards across the years. The inten-tion is to develop a network

Training DirectorateMr Ian K Ritchie,Director of Surgical Training

of Regional Surgical Advisers within Scotland and wherever our Fellows are nationally. The overarching purpose of these Regional Surgical Advisers is the support of Fellows and Members of this College.

International ActivitiesInternational Medical Graduate Sponsorship Scheme (IMGSS)This year has seen the continued implementation of a revised agreement with the GMC to sponsor International Medical Graduates to come to the UK for training in a specifi c fi eld. Currently, we have 60 sponsored IMGs training in the UK in a range of Fellowship posts, which is the greatest number the team has achieved in recent years. We continue to enjoy a good working relation-ship with the GMC’s IMG Team and hope to continue to support overseas doctors wishing to enhance their surgical skills in the UK for many years to come.

The College’s aim in supporting the IMGSS is to ensure that the trainees who are part of that scheme receive good training in

surgical specialties in the UK. To this end, we have encour-aged both the surgical trainers and the trainees to agree to sound educational principles of learning agreements, appraisals and assessments which ensure that training is being delivered and which will be recognised with a certifi cate from the College on successful comple-tion of that training.

Visiting Fellowships and Medical Training Initiative (MTI)We held fruitful discussions with the major stakeholders in this Department of Health initiative. We have received much interest in the scheme from consult-ants, trusts and deaneries and we endeavour to build a closer working relationship with the deaneries in identifying training posts which would be mutu-ally benefi cial to the trainee, deanery and trust.

We are keen to ensure that training is taking place and as part of the MTI, we provide sponsorship for the visiting surgeons. The principles of good educational practice will also be applied in these circumstances.


This year has seen the continued

implementation of a revised agreement

with the GMC to sponsor International Medical Graduates to

come to the UK for training in a

specifi c fi eld

Surgeons’ Hall Trust LtdThe continuing fi nancial dormancy of Surgeons’ Hall Trust Ltd led to the Board of Directors agreeing to ‘mothball’ the company until such time as a more defi ned source of fi nancial support is in place for the development of RCSEd Heritage. The ‘mothballed’ company has as its Directors, the President, Honorary Treasurer and Honorary Secretary of RCSEd.

Surgeons’ Hall Archive, Library and Museum It has been another successful year for RCSEd Heritage in all areas of public and professional engagement. • Public visits to the Museum doubled in

2008 and there was a 400% increase in schools and lifelong learning visits.

• In September 2008, the Museum hosted the 14th Congress of the European Asso-ciation of Museums of Medical Science. The Congress, opened by the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, welcomed speakers and delegates from all over the world, including Europe, USA and Australia.

• RCSEd Heritage led the celebrations in Scotland of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with a sell-out public lecture given by Owen Dudley Edwards and Andew Lycett. The event attracted extensive press and elec-tronic media coverage.

• Partnerships with the National Library of Scotland and the UNESCO World City of Literature led to the College playing a prominent part in the 500th anniversary of the Printed Word in Scotland and the UK-wide Big Read which looked at the infl uence of Charles Darwin on Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lost World books.

• In September, a special RCSEd exhibition Conan Doyle and Joseph Bell: the Real Sherlock Holmes opened at the Royal Society of Medicine in London (on show until January 2010).

Ms Dawn Kemp, Director of Heritage


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• A new museum guide, Surgeons’ Hall: A Museum Anthology, funded by the Scottish Government through Museums Galleries Scotland, was published in the summer of 2009.

• A full NPO (National Preservation Offi ce) survey of the RCSEd archive was under-taken and the library secured grants and special income for copyright permission of £5,000.

• The establishment of online access to the electronic catalogue of the archive, library and museum collections in the summer of 2009 opens up great opportunities for external research on the collections.

The work of volunteers in front of, and behind, the scenes in the Library and Museum has again been invaluable in the delivery of programmes and services within RCSEd Heritage, which provide both professional and public benefi t.

DonationsRCSEd Heritage continued to benefi t from very generous donations to the collec-tions by Fellows, Members and the general public, including papers relating to Sir Henry Littlejohn from the estate of Rachael Hedderwick, his granddaughter.

The Library Adopt a Book Scheme received much-valued donations towards the care of rare books in the collection including one from Mr Roopkishore Tandon FRCSEd for the conservation of Mémoires de l’Académie Royale de Chirurgie Volume One, 1743.

Scotland & Medicine: Collections & ConnectionsThe Scotland and Medicine partnership led by Surgeons’ Hall Museum was awarded £600,000 from the Legacy Trust UK and the Scottish Arts Council, for Our Sporting Body, a London 2012 Olympic and Paral-ympic cultural project promoting the history and current practice of sport and exercise medicine.

The partnership also delivered a new exhibition This Weird Estate at the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, in spring 2009.

FarewellFinally, as I step down as RCSEd’s fi rst Director of Heritage, I would like to add a personal thanks and farewell to all RCSEd Fellows, Members, staff and volunteers, who have supported RCSEd’s Heritage developments over the last seven years. It has been a great privilege to be a custodian of one of Scotland’s fi nest collections.

Heritage

It is a great pleasure to provide the Annual Report of the Faculty of Dental Surgery. Over the past year there has been much activity for the dental specialties. The work of the GDC’s Specialist Dental Educa-tion Board continues to move forward with the development of new curricula for all the dental specialties. The Faculty has been fully engaged in this important (and time-consuming) work through its representa-tives on the Specialist Advisory Committees.

Dental care professionalsThe Faculty has had a long involvement in a number of initiatives linked to the develop-ment of the dental team and continues to support Dental Care Professionals with an Annual Conference. The success of these initiatives is refl ected in the capacity attend-ance at this year’s 13th Annual Conference in March.

In June, the Faculty launched a Dental Affi liate scheme aimed at dental graduates in the fi rst two years following qualifi ca-tion. This provides members with a range of benefi ts and will hopefully encourage young graduates to engage in the activities of the Faculty. Work is in progress to launch an affi liate scheme for undergraduate students later in the year.

Faculty of Dental

SurgeryDr D H Felix, Dean

e-Den projectThe Faculty is a full partner in the e-Den project in collabora-tion with sister Colleges and the Department of Health. This is a web-based interactive learning resource which aims to support foundation training for young dental graduates. The fi rst phase will be available online in the autumn of 2009, delivering mate-rials that are useful, engaging and enjoyable.

Professor ES Davenport demits offi ce as Convener of the Dental Examinations Committee in September. She has worked tirelessly to ensure that our examinations conform to modern principles of assessment and are fi t for purpose. I am delighted to welcome Mr Peter Durning as her successor and I am confi dent that Peter will ensure that the momentum is maintained.

I am indebted to Dr AC Shearer (Vice Dean), Professor ES Davenport and Mr RAC Chate (Secretary) for their invaluable advice in my fi rst year as Dean. I am also grateful to Ms Helen Scott and Faculty Team for their support.

I am sure the year ahead will bring a number of challenges. However I am confi dent that, with the support of Fellows and Members, the Faculty will continue to contribute to the development of dental education both in the UK and overseas.

107surgeonsnews october 2009106 surgeonsnews october 2009 107surgeonsnews october 2009

The Faculty has had a long involvement in a number of initiatives linked to the development of the dental team and continues to support Dental Care Professionals with an Annual Conference

Faculty of Health InformaticsMr David J Birnie, Dean

This year there has been considerable progress with the Faculty’s educational programmes and a number of other activities.

CoursesThe new partnership programmes with Edinburgh University in Health Informatics and Health Information Govern-ance were launched and two residential schools have been held. Currently, we have approxi-mately 20 students studying Health Informatics and six students studying Information Governance. We have under-taken two intensive marketing drives which resulted in an increase in enquiries.

The Diploma in Remote and Offshore Medicine was also launched and there have been two intakes, with approximately 15 students currently studying. There continues to be signifi cant interest in the programme. The Faculty is pleased that the FPHC is contributing to the programme through the Board of Examiners.

Services The ePortfolio continues to be well used, with over 17,500

users and 6,914,509 opera-tions in the database. There is ongoing work associated with Recertifi cation and Revalida-tion and the recent launch of an iPhone application which provides links into the College website.

The Faculty continues to provide website hosting services to a number of organisations and recently provided user training and documentation to SBNS.

Research and business opportunitiesThe Head of Research and Development has been awarded two research grants; he received

a grant from Ethicon for the development of a research group CACHE (Collaboration for Accessibility and Communica-tions in Health and Education) and was part of a small group that received a grant from the NHS Faculty of Health Infor-matics to research and write a position paper on dissemination of Masters level research.

The Faculty has agreed to work with the British Orthodontic Society to host and deliver their online learning programmes. Work has commenced to transfer material from their existing VLE to the Faculty’s Moodle system. We are very pleased to be working with BOS on this project.

Faculty staffJulie Melville joined the Faculty as a full-time administrator and is primarily responsible for the DipRom and ePortfolio help desk.

The Faculty has been fortu-nate to have the ongoing work and support of the Faculty team and Andrew Lamb, Director of Web Services, and Alasdair Craig, Web Developer, during a particularly challenging year.

The ePortfolio continues to be

well used with over 17,500 users

and 6,914,509 operations in the

database


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Faculty of Pre-Hospital CareKeith Porter, Chairman

Offi cers to establish clinical stand-ards, courses and an assessment process for fi re personnel and tactical fi rearms offi cers, respec-tively.

I am delighted to report that the FPHC, through the College, has formed an affi liation with the Joint Royal Colleges Ambulance Liaison Group (JRCALC) – the standard-setting body for UK paramedic practice.

Education and teachingThe Training and Standards Board, under the Chairmanship of Richard Fairhurst, continues to evaluate and approve courses including courses for the security industry, crowd doctors, pitch-side care and pre-hospital dining emergences.

The FPHC has approved changes to the content of, and the assessment process for, its core Pre-hospital Emergency Care Courses (PHEC). This quality-assures the examination and refl ects advances and changes in clinical practice. Technical development and researchThe FPHC currently embeds its research strategy within the

Academic Department of Emer-gency Medicine in Middlesbrough under the leadership of Professor Ian Greaves, where it supports a research Fellow. Integrated pre-hospital careThe FPHC strives to ensure a seamless interface between all grades and professions involved in PHC. This year in particular, we have engaged with the DOH and Intensive Care Society to establish a better understanding in relation to inter-hospital transfer.

The FPHC has funded a fact-fi nding project to determine the necessary role and structure of a regional faculty infrastructure. Once this is complete, we will produce a regional infrastruc-ture which will engage with all levels of practitioners and will be essential for future appraisal delivery, education and training. The redesigned website and a new Integrated Pre-hospital Care Conference scheduled for the autumn 2009 reinforces team-work and integration.

The FPHC continues to increase its membership and impact as it expands its infl uence on PHC in the UK.

This year has been another busy year for the FPHC as we strive to embrace our four principal objectives – to set and maintain standards of practice, to promote education and teaching, to insti-gate technical development and research, and to integrate the efforts of all practitioners in pre-hospital care.

The FPHC infl uences all levels of practitioner on the Skills for Health framework from levels 1 to 9 which ranges from the fi rst aider to the specialist practitioner. Through the FPHC, the RCSEd has established an Intercollegiate Board to prepare a submission to PMETB for the recognition of Pre-hospital Emergency Medicine as a medical subspecialty. This has been achieved with support from the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges and fellow lead Colleges (College of Anaesthetists, College of Emergency Medicine and College of General Practitioners). Numerous work streams have been established including a curriculum and assessment group and training fellowships.

During the last year the FPHC has worked closely with the Asso-ciation of Chief Fire Offi cers and the Association of Chief Police


Honorary Treasurer’s Report

The fi nancial year ended 31 December 2008 has seen a further consolidation of our fi nancial position, which has been sustained into the fi rst half of the 2009 fi nancial year. The summarised accounts, once again, show a healthy operating surplus, despite a number of exceptional items including the costs associated with pursuing a construction claim and the costs of fraud recov-ery. This will enable us to build a strategic reserve in order to develop new initiatives identifi ed in the College Strategic Plan, and fi nalised in recent months.

I am glad to report that we have been able to meet the fi nancial commitments I made in my report last year – these include signifi cant invest-ments in our IT infrastructure during 2009 as well as meeting the commitment to utilise the election fee for the direct benefi t of the Fellowship through support for research, education and heritage.

Overall, our long-term fi nancial strategy has not changed. Our focus in the medium-term is to boost our annual income through the activities of Surgeons Lodge Limited, the company which manages the College’s business interests, and to deliver our long-term goal of capital growth to support Heritage through the new Development Offi ce. I hope that the latter will be fully estab-lished by the time of the AGM in November 2009 as we have received a signifi cant contribution towards running costs until early 2012, made possible by a philanthropic donation.

Council took a strategic decision to move all of our holdings into cash last summer follow-ing discussion and advice from the Financial Development Committee. As a result, the College did not suffer the fi nancial losses experienced by many other institutions following the turmoil in the world stock markets in the latter part of 2008. Thus, we have been able to maintain a secure fi nancial base on which to build for the future.

The arrival of a new Director of Finance, Tony Oxford, within the last 12 months has strength-ened the Finance Team signifi cantly. In my fi nal report to you as Honorary Treasurer, I believe that we have fi rmly reversed the trend of expe-riencing an annual budget defi cit and we must now ensure that the College in future adheres to the budgeting concept framed by Mr Micawber in Charles Dickens’ David Copperfi eld for the long-term: ‘Annual income £20, annual expenditure £19 19/06, result happiness. Annual income £20, annual expenditure £20 0/6, result misery.’


Ann

ual R

epor

t 20

09

Income for the year ended 31 December 2008

Balance Sheet as at 31 December 200831/12/08 31/12/07

(restated)

£000 £000

Tangible fi xed assets 20,343 20,354

Investments 18 3,921

Current assets 6,972 3,568

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (8,481) (8,483)

Net assets 18,852 19,360

Represented by:

Unrestricted funds

General fund 8,794 8,549

Designated funds 1,349 1,370

10,143 9,919

Restricted funds 8,709 9,441

Total funds 18,852 19,360

Mr David Tolley

Total incoming resources £11.2 million

Donations, bequests and gifts – 1%Subscriptions – 31%Examinations – 25%Courses – 5%Property – 2%Faculties – 5%Publications – 1%Grants – 3%Other – 3%Trading income – 21%Investment income – 3%

Summarised accounts for 2008


Treasurer’s statement on the summarised accounts of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh

The financial statements on pages 110 and 111 are not the full statutory consolidated financial statements of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh but are derived from the financial statements of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Hill Square Educational Trust and Surgeons Lodge Limited, a wholly owned trading subsidiary of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. The full financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2008 have been audited by Geoghegan & Co., Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors and received an unqualified opinion. The summarised accounts may not contain sufficient information to allow a full understanding of the financial affairs of the College. For further information the full financial statements should be consulted. A copy of the full financial statements will be available from the Library, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Nicolson Street, Edinburgh.

D A Tolley Honorary Treasurer

Total resources expended £10.9 million

Fundraising trading – 17%Subscriptions – 3%Examination costs – 16%Courses – 5%Property – 13%Faculties – 8%Publications – 5%Grants – 6%Professional activities – 14%Governance and support – 1%Other – 12%

Expenditure for the year ended 31 December 2008

Documents

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh