Health Policy and Advocacy featured prominently in the RACS ASC program this year in Perth. Sessions included the launch of the Emergency Laparotomy Clinical Care Standard, managing the ‘God complex‘ in surgery, lessons learnt from clinical quality registries, protecting surgical whistle blowers, trauma training in the modern world, and conducting surgery in extreme environments.

Managing the God complex
Attendees heard from a number of speakers—among them experienced criminal lawyer Meneesha Michalka from the Medical Board of Western Australia. She emphasised the importance of patient consent, challenging the mindset of ‘that’s the way things have always been done’, and staying responsive when mistakes are made rather than working in isolation. Eloise Nagle, a workplace health and safety lawyer from Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, spoke on the duty of employers to be proactive in responding to bullying and harassment claims and ensuring the psychological health and wellbeing of employees. 

Professor Guy Maddern delved into what defines ‘God complex’, including behaviours such as narcissism, isolation and immunity to criticism. He spoke of the need for RACS to better articulate the problem and the importance of establishing behavioural standards to guide surgeons. 

Fifteen Years of Safety and Quality – lessons learnt from clinical quality registries for the next decade
Professor Carolyn Hullick from ACSQHC spoke on evolving expectations in revising the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards so they continue to be relevant until 2040. These addressed emerging issues such as discrimination against First Nations people, digital health, workforce wellbeing, and safety culture and integration into the healthcare system. 

Dr Audrey Koay, also from the ACSQHC, focused on what jurisdictions expect of the College and its Fellows, speaking on the need to make better use of Clinical Registries and the Australian Framework for National Clinical Registries 2024. Jaimes Aitken from Sir Charles Gardner Hospital spoke on how “it is time for some intellectual honesty”, raising how accuracy is the first step for achieving quality and how inaccurate data is dangerous.

No Surgeon Unprepared: Trauma Training in Modern World – A trauma curriculum for all surgeons
Delegates heard from the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Surgery of Trauma (ANZAST) on its work in surgical education and training in trauma. This includes the PFET (Post Fellowship Education and Training) program in trauma—a specialised two-year full-time Fellowship in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. However, formal training in trauma throughout the SET program is lacking across all specialties. Attendees were encouraged to see trauma as the ultimate team sport and to apply this ethos towards surgical education and training.

Dr Matthew Hope from the RACS Trauma Committee spoke of the Committee’s work in trauma advocacy, including road safety and e-mobility, gun safety, and domestic and family violence. Most recently, the Trauma Committee has been actively engaged in advocating for mandatory standards for quad bikes and engaging with a Queensland parliamentary inquiry into e-mobility safety and use in the state.