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CBS News Update July 2020

08 July 2020

 

Here is the latest update of work being undertaken by the CBS Team and an update on issues that are being addressed in the best interests of the surgical community.

 

Staff

CBS is delighted to say that our two members of staff, James Rose Managing Director and Helen Crookes, Membership & Admin Manager both returned to work from the 1st June and their presence has resulted in a considerable increase in CBS activities already!Do not hesitate to contact either of them with an queries or comments regarding the work of CBS and the surgical community.

Indemnity Training

CBS Launched its Indemnity Training service on Monday 6th July and has already had substantial interest. Every member who requests the service will have a bespoke session relating to their personal circumstances. For more information, refer to the Indemnity Training information on the CBS website.

Bullying  

CBS is involved in two separate investigations of bullying of its members by management. Progress is slow in resolving these issues as most Trust have understandably their focus elsewhere at present. Nonetheless it is encouraging that there is an increasing awareness in the surgical community about the existence of CBS and its’ commitment to assist surgeons in trouble for whatever reason.
 

FIPO (Federation Independent Practitioners)

CBS has had preliminary discussions with Richard Packard, Chairman of FIPO about affiliation between our two organisations. Hopefully this will develop when the current pandemic is over

Trainee Crisis

CBS has been approached by a senior Orthopaedic surgeon to ask if CBS can champion an initiative for Trainee surgeons in Cambridge who are prevented from operating on private premises.  CBS is evaluating a number of initiatives designed to support trainees getting experience of procedures that could no longer fall under the NHS.

Cavendish Medical: Pensions

WEBINAR: What now for pensions and financial planning? Thursday 10th or Friday 11th September 2020

Are you confident in your position? Do you understand the current pensions and tax regulations? The rules and regulations of pension savings are ever changing. The choices you make now can affect your future wealth.

Cavendish Medical provides specialist financial planning advice to medical professionals covering pensions, tax planning, savings and investments.

Elliot Lund, financial planner, is hosting two webinars on Thursday 10th September at 12pm or Friday 11th September at 6pm to discuss these key topics:

  • Current NHS pension benefits and recent changes
  • The impact of NHS Annual and Lifetime Allowances (and the changes to the Tapered annual allowance rules)Pension tax payment options
  • Recent changes to Clinical Excellence Awards
  • Other income sources - tax planning and pension savings
  • The main presentations will last approximately 45 minutes plus 15 minutes for questions and answers at the end.

Please click here to register your attendance

OTSIS (Indemnity for Orthopaedic Surgeons).
CBS has commenced registrations for OTSIS members. This will continue throughout July. Feedback from OTSIS members has been positive and all who have so far joined appreciated how important it is for the surgical community to have their own voice.

Post Covid: impact on terms and conditions of employment

The deluge of media cover regarding the pandemic compounded by a tendency to be alarmist makes accurate judgements about the long-term effects of the pandemic on surgical practice difficult to predict. However, a number of factors are likely to be important:

PPE: The Consultant contract stipulates that employing authority (usually Trust in England and Wales) have a statutory responsibility to provide the resources for surgeons to be able to do their jobs safely and effectively. In the past this has been taken to mean provision of theatre / endoscopy / ward facilities in conjunction with adequate office/ audit and research back up. Inevitably the future will see as an essential addition the need to provide effective PPE.

Indemnity: it is generally agreed that the massive restriction on normal clinical activities will result in significant delays in both diagnosis and treatment. Whilst politicians and the public have nothing but praise for the NHS now the fact remains there is likely to be a large number of claims against surgeons in the future based on delay in diagnosis and treatment. It is the opinion of CBS that individual surgeons should be exempt from such claims. We have written to NHS Resolution seeking clarity on this issue.

TWW referrals: The TWW standard is loved by politicians and health care managers but detested by clinicians in the front line. The main reason for this is simply that it is not effective. There is no evidence that the TWW referral system leads to more rapid diagnosis of malignant disease. Further, the system puts all the risk firmly onto the shoulders of surgeons. Surgeons do not control entry criteria but are held responsible if matters go wrong. Covid-19 gives an opportunity to revisit this flawed preferential referral system.

Referral Guidelines: these days there are guidelines for just about every surgical diagnosis. Breach of guidelines is often used as a justification for medicolegal action. Covid-19 has resulted in massive increase in patients awaiting surgery. We must now take the opportunity to do all we can to minimise future referral practice and workload. Where risk is low surgeons should be encouraged to discharge patients from further follow up and investigation.
 

Annual return to Certification Office

Our annual returns are about to be audited and then will be submitted to the Certification Office. They will be available to view on the web site in due course.
 

Election of Officers

Nominations are sought for the following:

  • CBS President
  • CBS Vice President (and Surgical Expert Chair)
  • 3 Executive Council Members.

The election will be co-ordinated by Helen Crookes and Carolyn Capps and conducted online and nomination forms will be distributed on 11 July 2020.

Each nomination requires a proposer and seconder both of whom must be CBS members, but although desirable, it is not essential for those nominated to be a current CBS member. 

The deadline for submission of nominations will be 31 July 2020 after which ballot forms will be distributed to all members. Voting will close on 31st August. Results will be made public at the AGM on the 15th September.

As per the rule book all Officers serve an initial term of 3 years and are eligible for re-election for one further term.

Survey PPE Usage

A survey seeking opinions on the Safety of surgical staff and the use of PPE during the pandemic was distributed in early June. We have received over 600 responses and are now evaluating the results. A full report of the results will be published in late July.

Media

Thanks to the team at  Wavelength, CBS has substantially increased its profile in the media recently. For details see their recent blog Snapshot: 3 Months of UK Surgeons on the CBS website. CBS actively encourages its members to engage with issues on its social media platforms, @UKsurgeons

Annual General Meeting

This is provisionally scheduled for 15 September.. The venue is yet to be confirmed but almost certainly we will be enabling members to join “remotely” by video, phone or internet.
The provisional agenda is as follows:

  • Results of elections for Officers
  • Financial report
  • Raising the profile of CBS: James Rose to outline CBS strategy and investment required.
  • A review of member benefits.
  • Review of partnerships (Indigo, Cavendish, Ballards, OTSIS, FIPO,
  • Launch Surgical Expert and appointment of Board
  • Web site activity
  • TUC congress
  • Employment issues:
  • The split between SPA (supporting professional activities) and DPAs (direct clinical care), which varies greatly around the country.
  • A recognition of the onerous nature of on call commitments for surgeons..
  • Waiting list initiative payments: the rates of pay vary widely up and down the country. This is unfair and should be standardised.
  • The moratorium on merit awards and discretionary points. There needs to be urgent discussion on means and methods to incentivise surgeons.

If there are any issues you would like to raise, please let Helen Crookes know (admin@cbsgb.co.uk)

Kind regards

The CBS Team

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