Join the SCTS
The Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland SCTS was founded in 1934 and was initially devoted to the practice of thoracic surgery, which at that time was mostly for tuberculosis. After World War II, with such pioneers as Lord Brock and Sir Thomas Holmes-Sellors, cardiac surgery was introduced and the number of cardiothoracic surgeons steadily increased. The purpose of the Society is to further the interests of all involved in cardiothoracic surgery. In this country, thoracic surgery has traditionally been associated with cardiac surgery rather than general surgery and vascular surgery has been associated with general surgery, rather than cardiac.
SCTS has an annual meeting in March and surgeons from overseas are always welcome.
The Society has an Executive Committee made up of 18 members, who run the Society. The teaching and appropriate training of junior surgeons is governed by the Executive Committee and the Specialist Advisory Committee for Higher Surgical Training with powers to recognise units as suitable for training, or not as the case may be. A member of the SCTS is present on every committee for the appointment of a new consultant. This helps to ensure standards and fairness. The Executive Commmittee also spends much time liaising with the Department of Health regarding the appropriate work done in units and how to tackle the huge burden of cardiac disease with limited resources.
The Society has pioneered data collection in the UK, having a register of all cardiothoracic operations since 1977. Despite the cardiologists creaming off the easier cases with angioplasty and our patients getting older and sicker, the results have continued to improve. More recently a National Adult Cardiac Surgical Database Report has been produced and this now has more than 100,000 patients with risk adjusted data in it. The 1999/2000 edition was published in July 2001 led the way for data collection and presentation in this country and other specialties are beginning to follow.
The SCTS has also pioneered an accreditation scheme, whereby a team visits hospitals on request to assess if quality is monitored by a robust system of measurement of risk-stratified outcomes with clear performance targets and mechanisms of dealing with underperformance, as measured against such targets. If the unit meets the required standard, they are given a certificate of approval which will hopefully help them to attract purchasers and finance. The system is voluntary, but hopefully standards will be raised in time, as units do not want to be left behind.
SCTS continues to be an innovative, forward thinking organisation, addressing the interests of cardiothoracic surgeons and their patients.