Dear Rural Surgery Section Members,

It’s nearing two years since the Rural Surgery Section proposed the Rural Health Equity Strategic Action Plan (RHESAP) to RACS Council. Under the great leadership of the Rural Health Equity Steering Committee ably chaired by Councilor A/Prof Kerin Fielding, I’m pleased to note there have been significant strides made since its approval. The latest action to be ratified is that all RACS committee meetings must have rural as a standing agenda item. We hope to have rural representation incorporated into the composition of committees adopted next. It would be an integral step to ensure that rural voices are included in the decision-making process. Several projects implementing deliverables of the RHESAP are also well underway. These include: 

• The investigation and development of a rural-facing surgical curriculum and evaluation of next steps (with support from the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care STP support project) – more about it below 

• Asynchronous videocoaching in rural settings (with support from the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care STP support project) 

• Rural Accreditation of hospital training posts (with support from the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care Flexible Approach to Training in Expanded Settings program) 

As a follow-up to my presentation delivered at the 2022 ASC Brisbane, this is now a published journal article and can be cited in the latest edition of ANZ Journal of Surgery entitled Rural Health Equity Strategic Action Plan: excellence through equity.  

The matter of non-medical surgical assistants has been at the forefront of the Section’s advocacy. This Australian-centric issue arose from the Medicare Benefits Schedule Continuous Review on expanding MBS access to non-medical surgical assistants. Their report recommends that appropriately trained and experienced non-medical surgical assistants (including advanced practice registered nurses, perioperative nurse surgical assistants and nurse practitioners) should be able to claim current MBS items for surgical assistant services. 

This is an important issue in rural, regional and remote areas where non-medical surgical assistants have reliably provided assistance under the supervision of rural surgeons for several years when there has been a lack of medically trained surgical assistants. Surgeons are best placed to determine who can surgically assist with reference on the complexity of the procedure, the assistant’s level of competence and available local workforce. Whilst this presents a great opportunity, it must not be supported in circumstances where there is an available pool of medically trained surgical assistants (especially in urban settings), for complex operative cases, and where it might interfere with surgical trainees’ ability to access training in the operating theatre. Working with the relevant stakeholders, RACS can play a significant role in defining what constitutes adequate past experience, and adequate training for a non-medical surgical assistant. More information about the consultation is available on the MBS consultation website.  RACS’ submission is available on the RACS website and received input from the Rural Surgery Section, Rural Health Equity Steering Committee and the Health Policy and Advocacy Committee.

I’m thinking of those of you currently affected by the widespread floods, suffering damage to homes or businesses or the impacts of roads still under water or damaged and impassable. Our home and farm are ok, but we are still taking long detours around closures to get to work and out-paddocks and to get the kids to and from school. It’s such a tough time for many rural and urban people and not easy or quick to recover from.

Thank you to Dr Damian Fry for his work and presentation as the Rural Coach at Provincial Surgeons Australia (PSA) Annual Scientific Conference (ASC).  Feedback from Trainees and Junior Doctors on his presentation was great. Read the reports in the article below "Reflections from Trainees and Junior Doctors on the PSA". 

I encourage you to contact me to let me know about your local challenges or successes in your area. This will allow me to advocate and help where possible or share successes for the benefit of all. 


Dr Bridget Clancy MBBS FRACS GAICD

BIOETHICS FORUM

Bioethical Framework Implementation in Clinical Practice – presented by RACS Medico Legal Section
Saturday 5 November 2022, 9am – 5pm AEDT
Clifton’s Sydney, NSW

The forum will stimulate robust bioethical discussions among surgeons. The Forum has a broad clinical emphasis to reveal current medical, surgical and hospital practice and to bring into focus innovations in medicine, nursing, pain relief and surgery that continue to evolve.

Find out more here

RACS/ANZCA/ACEM Joint Symposium: Family Violence – Health System Response
Thursday 10 November 2022, 9am - 4pm AEDT
Jubilee Room NSW Parliament, 6 Macquarie Street, Sydney

This year’s joint symposium on family violence, convened by Assoc Prof Payal Mukherjee FRACS and Dr Ken Harrison FANZCA, with keynote speakers including

• Dr Mayet Costello, Violence, Abuse & Neglect, NSW Health
• Professor Kelsey Hegarty, Family Violence Prevention, University of Melbourne and RWH
• Dr John Sammut, President Medical Council NSW
• Natalie Ward, NSW Minister for Prevention of Domestic and Sexual Violence, will open the symposium

Register here
View the provisional program
Queries: trauma@surgeons.org

Recognising Rural Champions – Recent Recipients of the RACS Rural Surgeon Awards
Dr Michael Wilson FRACS

Dr Wilson has been an otolaryngologist and Fellow of the College for over forty years and for the last thirty years he has practised at the Kilmore and District Hospital. He was the first ENT Surgeon to the hospital where he was the sole practitioner in the area for over twenty years. Since then, several ENT Surgeons have joined to work alongside him. Prior to Kilmore he was the visiting surgeon to Goulburn Valley Base Hospital and Swan Hill and District Hospital. In recognition of his work, he is a past recipients of several awards including RACS Educator of the Year, RACS Indigenous Health Medal and RACS Certificate of Outstanding Service. He has been made a Life Governor of The Kilmore and District Hospital and is much admired by his patients, hospital staff and colleagues.
Dr Wilson was presented with his award at the ASOHNS meeting in August.

Australian Institute of Company Directors (

• 30 full-fee scholarships for experienced directors to undertake the Company Directors Course; and
• 24 full-fee scholarships for emerging directors to undertake the Foundations of Directorship program

Rural Surgeons Award

The Rural Surgeons Award is an award acknowledging significant contributions to surgery in rural settings in New Zealand and Australia.  

Nominations for 2023 are open.   Please refer to the policy governing the Rural Surgeons award (PDF 98.23KB) before submitting a nomination. Nominations must meet the criteria outlined in this policy. 

Nominations may be mailed to: 
Rural Surgery Section Secretariat 
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons 
Suite 1, Level 26 
201 Kent Street 
SYDNEY NSW 2000 
Australia 

or sent by email to: rural@surgeons.org