CBS News Update

24 August 2020

Welcome to the latest update of work being undertaken by the CBS Team and issues that are being addressed in the best interests of the surgical community.

1. Indemnity Training

CBS Launched its Indemnity Training service in July and has already had substantial interest. Every member who requests the service will have a bespoke session relating to them and a report for their personal circumstances. Two CBS members who have benefited from the training recently have provided testimonials:

Venkat Iyer, Neurosurgeon (Bristol)

"A fantastic CBS service supplied by James Rose. I now understand the difference between claims made and occurrence-based indemnity and I feel confident about what I need to be aware of if I change model in the future. The report that was written for me is extremely useful going forward. Thankyou"

Joseph Shalhoub, Vascular Surgeon (London)

"I had no idea about the complexities regarding professional medical indemnity until the CBS training. From negotiation to regulatory
requirements, CBS training has helped empower me to understand how to approach providers to secure the best for my circumstances. Highly
recommended."

For more information, refer to the Indemnity Training information on the CBS website.

2. Trust mergers

CBS has been involved in different enquiries around the UK relating to Trust mergers and has issued guidance on this that it will now put into the public domain, to inform CBS members.

3. Orthopaedic issues across the UK

It is becoming clear that around the UK COVID19 has created significant pressures for our friends and colleagues in Orthopaedics as Trusts are increasingly breaching contracts by asking surgeons to work beyond their normal scope of practice and treat NHS patients on private premises. This is happening whilst the NHS has still not resolved the pensions crisis adequately meaning surgeons will be penalised financially for performing this work. CBS is now talking to a number of prominent senior UK orthopaedic surgeons about how best to tackle this growing problem.

3. OTSIS (Indemnity for Orthopaedic Surgeons)

CBS has continued undertaking registrations for OTSIS members. This will continue throughout August. Feedback from OTSIS members has been positive and all who have so far joined appreciate how important it is for the surgical community to have their own voice.

4. Cavendish Medical: Pensions

CBS Members - Please click here to register your attendance on this event

5. 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 Trusts 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 that 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.

6. Annual return to Certification Office

Our annual returns have been audited and are due to be sent to the Certification Office and signed off at the forthcoming AGM. They will be available to view on the web site in due course.

7. Election of Officers

Nominations for the election of new officers were verified, and as there was only one nomination for each position it has been confirmed by Professor John MacFie that, in accordance with the CBS Rule Book, elections do not need to take place. Results will be made public at the AGM on the 15^th 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.

8. CBS COVID-19 Safety at Work Survey

A comprehensive evaluation of the survey results has taken place and a press release was issued by Wavelength to the media, which resulted in substantial interest and a number of subsequent news articles in the Independent, Daily Telegraph, inews and Health Business UK.

The press release and full survey results can be accessed on the CBS website:

Press Release

Full Survey Results

9. Media

The CBS profile is continuing to grow in the media. The most recent blog from Wavelength media How knock-on effects challenge the “new normal” is on the CBS website. CBS actively encourages its members to engage with issues on its social media platforms, @UKsurgeons

10. Annual General Meeting

This is scheduled for 15 September at The Principal Hotel in York (considered a central location). We would encourage members to attend either in person (there is a delegate limit due to Covid-19 restrictions) or to join “remotely” by video, phone or internet. Forms to indicate attendance were emailed to all CBS members last week.

The AGM agenda is as follows:

1. President’s Report: looking ahead

2. Election of Officers: results

3. Rulebook: proposed amendments

4. Financial report (to be tabled)

5. Raising the profile of CBS: Overview of activities/OTSIS/Web site activity/Monthly update/Review of partnerships (Indigo, Cavendish, Ballards, OTSIS, FIPO)

6. Communications / Media update

7. Membership: Update on numbers/A review of member benefits

8. Surgical Expert

9. Any other business

We encourage you to share your views and comments around issues pertinent to the surgical world on social media platforms @UKsurgeons and on LinkedIn.

Kind regards

The CBS Team

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