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Who We Are

           

                             Mr Narain Moorjani
                     SCTS President 2022-2025
                                

Presidential Welcome

Welcome to SCTS and welcome to our website.

We are a professional surgical society, with charitable status, and our purpose is to promote excellence in cardiothoracic surgery. We want every patient to receive excellent and safe care, with as good an experience as possible considering the emotional and physical challenge each and every one endures.

With this primary agenda we also strive to enrich the professional lives of our colleagues in the extended multi-professional surgical team - to find contentment and fulfil their potential. This is based on the foundations of equality, diversity and equal opportunity.

Our specialty continues to rapidly evolve with changes in surgery, training, research, education, audit and patient pathways. SCTS is the national conduit for the United Kingdom and Ireland to share and help implement all these improvements.

We enjoy, and welcome, working with the organisations that are so intimately involved with our work in Cardiac surgery, Congenital Cardiac Surgery and Thoracic Surgery:

Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Society of Clinical Perfusion Scientists, British Cardiovascular Society, British Thoracic Society, British Congenital Cardiac Association, The Royal Colleges of Surgery, Association of Cardio-Thoracic Surgical Care Practitioners (ACTSCP), Transplant Colleagues and Teams and many more.

We need to have more public and patient involvement to influence and support our work. We have started this journey and we are appreciating the significant benefits, but there is still much to do.

SCTS wants every member to feel involved and empowered in their professional society and that there is a sense of community and mutual support.

Please let us know if we can do better.

Yours,

Narain Moorjani
 

Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, Royal Papworth Hospital
President SCTS 2022-2024

 

 

The SCTS offices are based at the Royal College of Surgeons of England at Lincoln's Inn Fields - London

We are:

An inclusive professional society for all healthcare professionals involved and interested in cardiothoracic surgery.

Our main purpose, as described in our constitution, is:

  • To advance science in the field of cardiothoracic surgery for the benefit of the public by encouraging and promoting excellence in the practice of cardiothoracic surgery
  • Encouraging innovation in and scientific understanding of cardiothoracic surgery
  • Promoting, undertaking, encouraging and assisting in research in cardiothoracic surgery
  • Advancing the education of the public in cardiothoracic surgery.

With this unified purpose we endeavour to support all members in their professional lives and reach their potential.

The modern SCTS is:

  • The representative body for cardiothoracic surgery in Great Britain & Ireland
  • An independent self-funded organisation
  • A membership organisation whose trustees and senior officers are accountable to the membership
  • An inclusive membership of all healthcare professionals involved in and interested in cardiothoracic surgery
  • Patient focussed with lay / patient representation on the executive committe

The aims of the SCTS are:

  1. To continuously improve the quality of healthcare that our specialty delivers to patients in an open and accountable manner

  2. To ensure that we influence the direction of education and development of surgeons-in-training and related health care professionals

  3. Ensure that regulation when required is fit for purpose

  4. To meet the professional demands of our members as regards information and guidance surrounding the practice of cardiothoracic surgery

  5. Support education and professional development through Society scholarships and bursaries.

  6. Represent Great Britain & Ireland in cardiothoracic surgery at a national and  international level to foster exchange of concepts and ideas which may enhance practice.

Notable SCTS achievements over recent years are:

  1. Transparency and publication of patient outcomes since 2005 for adult cardiac surgery, congenital cardiac surgery and thoracic surgery. This is world leading, improving outcomes and assuring patients more than ever of consistent high standards throughout our specialty.

  2. Providing clinical and professional education to all members

  3. The launch of the SCTS University in 2010 to promote postgraduate education.

  4. Award of the BMJ Group Award for Best Quality Improvement, 2010

  5. Development, in conjunction with the Specialty Advisory Committee in Cardiothoracic Surgeons in training, of an innovative National Selection Programme for Cardiothoracic Surgery which has been adopted by other specialties.

  6. We have led the thinking about surgical revalidation and provided evidence to the GMC and the Health Select Committee on revalidation.

  7. Developed a national process for advising Trusts on the structure of consultant job plans.

  8. This work is firmly aligned with the principles outlined in ‘Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS’ and ‘High Quality Care for All’.

  9. Our members have provided substantial input to national initiatives such as:
    ‘Safe and Sustainable’ review into congenital cardiac services
    ‘Heart of the Matter’ NCEPOD report into death after coronary artery bypass.