Theme – “Medicine and Law in Spine Care”
Local organisers – Chris Adams, Consultant Orthopaedic Spine Surgeon and Jothy Kandasamy, Consultant Neurosurgeon and on Friday 1 and Saturday 2 November at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
We were very pleased to host the 12th Scottish Spine Surgeons’ Meeting in Edinburgh. The venue at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh – King Khalid Symposium Hall worked well.
A big thank you to Lauren Sutherland, QC for spending most of the afternoon with us on Friday. Everyone learnt so much from her talk “Montgomery – the journey from Hippocrates to paternalism to patient choice”. The whole audience enjoyed the discussion that included a representative from each Scottish city of our group talking about their consent process. Lauren signed a copy of her book “A Guide to Consent in Clinical Negligence Post-Montgomery” (2018, ISBN 978-1-911035-12-1) for each city. The copies were bought by our group, and we noted the book profits all go to charity.
We all noted Lauren’s suggestion to read the Royal College of Surgeons newest publication “Consent: Supported Decision Making” (2018). This session overran well into the evening, with only thirst and hunger stopping us.
Another highlight was Tim Pigott advising us on the topic of Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) as an invited speaker. Tim is the immediate past president of the European Spine Society with their PROMs system SpineTango. Using data from that system, Tim gave a masterclass in how to listen to patients. We all know it is necessary to emulate what is happening elsewhere in the U.K. and Europe for the benefit of our patients.
There was so much more to enjoy. The DEBATE – ‘This house proposes that adult degenerative spine deformity surgery should be available in Scotland? – ‘Realistic’ spine surgery in Scotland in 2019?’ was lively. After the scene was set by Alex Augustithis, the stage saw battle between those with the difficult task of taking sides, Odhrán Murray for, and Enrique Garrido against the motion. At the vote – the AYES had it – 15 to 1 (excluding the two proposers), so the motion carried.
In the first of our WORKING TOGETHER series both radiologists, Dr Angus Thompson and Dr Daniel Reynolds set the foundations for a fruitful collaboration. We agreed effectively we operate together, so communication is the key, with plenty of it over the two days! Roll on next year with our allied health care team in back pain.
Thanks to Robert Dunsmuir coming up from leads to help Tony Reece adjudicate the excellent free paper session. All of the 10 papers were presented to a high level. Congratulations to Ming Huay Chin for winning First Prize for paper 4 “Functional and neurological outcomes in cervical spinal cord injury patients. How much does initial ASIA grade affect outcome?”.
Congratulations to Sophie Adams for winning Second Prize for paper 6 “Completing ‘reasonable patient’ consent for all – what information disclosure do spine patients want?”.
The early feedback indicates we all achieved our annual focus of clinic practice, audit, research and education in spinal surgery in Scotland by promoting the sharing of knowledge and experience in a collegial, friendly gathering.
Thanks to the Sponsors 2019 who made this meeting possible and free to attend for NHS employees. More details on the accounts and sponsors page.
It was clear we all agree there is much to do with our group projects and more, but we all were glad ‘We’ve Got Your Back’ and each other’s. Until we meet again in Dundee 2020 (Addendum – Nature, in the form of COVID, had other ideas!), best wishes from Chris and Jothy, on behalf of The Spine Team in Edinburgh.
The programme 2019. Continuing Professional Development (CPD): the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh approved 9 hours of CPD – Recognition number – RCSEd02365 (6 hours CPD Day 1 and 3 hours CPD Day 2).
