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A NEW ERA FOR SURGEONS’ NEWS

In her first welcome article as editor, Emma Stapleton introduces the World Patient Safety Day special edition of Surgeons' News

It’s a great honour to take over as Editor of Surgeons’ News, following in the impressive footsteps of previous Editors David Tolley, John Duncan, Clare McNaught and Roger Currie. I thank all four for their support and guidance.

I’ve enjoyed the magazine since its first issue in 2002 when I was a new surgical SHO in Edinburgh, and in 2008 I took a copy on a Himalayan research expedition. Longstanding readers might remember seeing photographs of the magazine in far-flung locations. Sadly, mine never made an appearance in the magazine! So, this seems a suitable opportunity to share my photograph from 16 years ago – of Surgeons’ News under a tree favoured by Buddha himself for the purpose of achieving enlightenment. I would love to resurrect this feature, so please send in your photos to surgeonsnews@rcsed.ac.uk. 

We are now working with a new publisher, Wonderly. Over the next few issues, you may notice some changes as we gently adapt to the changing environment. There’ll be additional content on the Surgeons’ News Hub and, as we move to a digital-first model, contemporaneous content will become available between quarterly issues. In response to feedback, we aim to include more content from international authors and to continue producing content that is relevant to all our Members and Fellows. 

I can take no credit for most of the content in this excellent issue on the theme of World Patient Safety Day, which was planned before my arrival. Celebrated annually on 17 September, World Patient Safety Day is a World Health Organization initiative, and Anna Paisley and Claire Morgan (Chair and Deputy Chair of RCSEd’s Patient Safety Group) have done a brilliant job curating articles for this theme. Patient Safety is a core priority for the College and is central to our Professional Standards workstream. 

The RCSEd Dental Council celebrates its platinum anniversary with an uplifting article, ‘Three cheers for 70 years’, and our Dental Dean, Grant McIntyre, explores the new vision for specialist dental exams. 

Our President, Rowan Parks, has been busier than ever, and you can see some highlights of the Presidents’ Forums, held in Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle and London. These events have had brilliant feedback and have been an opportunity for colleagues of all career stages to network and learn more about the work of the College. 

There are too many fantastic articles in this issue to mention individually –  I hope you enjoy them.

Emma Stapleton

surgeonsnews@rcsed.ac.uk