Annex A > Chapter 4 - National Accountabilities and Roles > National regulatory and professional bodies > Specialist associations

Specialist associations

261 Specialist associations are groups of healthcare professionals. They have no power over their members. They set standards but cannot enforce any of them.

262 Sir Barry Jackson told the Inquiry about the origin of specialist associations and their relationship to the Royal Colleges:

`Q. Can I just ask you a little bit more about the specialist associations and their relationship with the Royal College of Surgeons? Generally, can I ask, how would specialist associations come into being in the first instance? Would that be anything to do with the initiative of the Royal College, or would that be purely a professionally led evolution?

`A. The latter; it would be professionally led. The College would have no part in the gestation of a specialist association.

`Q. We have seen, for instance, that some have a very long history; that from a statement provided to the Inquiry by the President of the Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons, that Society, for instance, was established in 1933, would that be typical, too, of some other specialist associations?

`A. The specialty association representing general surgery antedates that quite considerably. That was founded in 1917, I believe.

`Q. So there is no formal relationship between the Royal College of Surgeons and specialist associations?

`A. No formal relationship, although informally there are very close links indeed, to the extent that on the Council of the College of Surgeons, we have invited representatives from each of the nine specialist associations representing the nine SAC specialties and within the college buildings, we have the offices of each of the specialist associations.

`Q. Do you have any formal supervisory or monitoring role within the work of the specialist associations?

`A. No.' [334]

263 Dr Michael Godman, President of the BPCA, a specialist association, told the Inquiry:

`The British Paediatric Association at present is not a regulatory body but ... it attempts to publicise its work as widely as possible ... The Association plays a major role in training but the statutory control of this rests with the Specialty Advisory Committee of Paediatric Cardiology of the Joint Committee on Higher Medical Training of the Medical Royal Colleges and of the SAC in Cardiothoracic Surgery of the Joint Committee on Higher Surgical Training of the Royal Colleges of Surgery.' [335]

<< previous | next >> | back to top

Footnotes

[334] T28 p.11-13 Sir Barry Jackson

[335] WIT 0047 0004 Dr Godman