From the President's Desk
25 July 2025
(Last updated: 25 Jul 2025 17:52)
As talks break down, we now face another period of industrial action by resident doctors.
We respect their legal and moral right to strike.
At the same time, all of us on both sides of the line must remain committed to ensuring that patient care and safety remain paramount.
The GMC Position
The General Medical Council has been clear:
“Doctors are legally entitled to take part in lawful industrial action, including strike action. During strike action, doctors’ employers have a vital role in planning and preparing for how patients will be cared for.
We expect any doctors choosing to take part in strike action to continue to follow the principles of our guidance Good Medical Practice. It highlights the importance of doctors working collaboratively with the healthcare team to keep patients safe, staying within the limits of their competence.”
Why This Matters
While the current dispute is about pay, it also reflects wider concerns. These include working conditions, the erosion of training, and the breakdown of teams. Too often, ill-judged decisions have prioritised short-term savings over long-term resilience. We are now living with the consequences.
At the heart of good clinical care is skills and sound clinical judgement. This is built not only through knowledge and technology but also through experience, mentorship and continuity. In our unit, we continue to work in ‘firms’: small, highly functional teams. To a non-medic, a firm is like an elite field unit. Imagine replacing a well-drilled SAS team with a rotating ill-prepared cast changing every few hours. The results would speak for themselves. For trainees, morale, learning and patient care all suffer when continuity is lost.
Fixable Frustrations
Resident doctors are also facing many avoidable challenges.
These issues are surmountable. They could easily be addressed with will and coordination. If not by current systems, then by better ones.
Meanwhile, confusion and controversy persist over the role of physician associates. The title for a role which is actually a non-medical assistant to the doctor has misled patients and damaged trust. The Leng Review is now seeking to address this.
Culture, Leadership and Pay
Many of our talented young doctors are choosing to work abroad, often for better pay and conditions. This should concern us all.
A society that cannot train, value and retain its own workforce is not resilient. We see the same pattern in our broken roads and leaking pipes, which speak volumes about misplaced priorities and poor resource use.
There is hope. Many of the most effective improvements, such as better teams, clearer rotas, stronger clinical leadership and visible mentoring, require little or no additional cost. What they do require is a culture shift. We must move from management by target to leadership by values.
I believe that the right culture, supported by clinical leadership and intelligent service improvement, can generate savings that allow for pay restoration and improved conditions.
Join Us: Cycle for the Cause
I warmly invite you to take part in the London to Brighton Cycle Ride on 14 September 2025 as part of the SCTS team. This is about visibility, advocacy and support for our mission. We are a strong society, but in a crowded healthcare space, we must be seen in order to be heard.
We hope to offer some discounted places for students, residents and allied health professionals. Any discounts will be applied if you are in those groups. Places are limited, so please register soon, and registrations close on or before 8.8.25.
Save the Date: 26 September 2025
Our next Unit Representatives’ Meeting will be held at The King’s Fund, London. The theme will be Service Improvement: Learning from Each Other. We hope you will join us for a day of sharing ideas, celebrating innovation and shaping the future of our specialty.
Aman S Coonar
President, Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery
View other News