Surgical college’s new president plans to tackle workforce challenges

In his inaugural address to members and fellows at the organisation’s AGM, Parks said he was proud and excited about his new role: “While there are undoubtedly challenges ahead for healthcare professionals, I am looking forward to working with our members and fellows to make improvements.”

“I am only too aware of the responsibility and the commitment that necessarily comes with this crucial role,” he added. “I am passionate about the education and training of the next generation of surgeons and dentists, and this will be a major focus of our endeavours over the next few years. We must ensure their training is prioritised as we recover from the impact of the pandemic, but also manage a huge backlog of elective surgical workloads.

“We must also rekindle in them, the excitement, the satisfaction and the joy of looking after, caring for and curing patients with our surgical expertise. During the next three years, I wish to work closely with our regional and international surgical ambassadors to engage with students, trainees, and younger fellows with a commitment to support, stimulate and encourage these surgeons of the future.”

Parks was elected in June 2022 and takes over from Professor Michael Griffin OBE who has held the role of president since 2018. He is the first Northern Ireland-born president of the Edinburgh-based college; his father, Professor George Parks, who was also present at the address, was formerly president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

He said that workforce retention would be a key priority during his time as president: "Never has there been a more important time for us to attract and retain more workers, and to do so, we need to make the NHS a better place to work.”

Incoming vice presidents Clare McNaught and Tim Graham were also inaugurated at the AGM, taking over the roles from Pala Rajesh and Rowan Parks. Parks continued: “We have an outstanding council at present, bolstered even more by our recent elections.

“I couldn’t have asked for two better vice presidents - Tim Graham and Clare McNaught, who will lead both at home and abroad. Tim’s huge experience in education, training and assessment will be vitally important as we develop and expand our education and examination portfolio. Clare, our youngest-ever vice president and first-ever female vice president will have oversight of our international portfolio.”