Royal College Announces New Development to Support Humanitarian Healthcare Professionals
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A leading surgical College has announced an update to its Faculty of Remote and Rural Healthcare (FRRH) as part of its ongoing partnership with UK-Med to provide support to individuals and organisations working in humanitarian healthcare.
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) has created the expanded Faculty of Remote, Rural and Humanitarian Healthcare (FRRHH), which will support a global network of healthcare professionals working in this fast-developing field.
Including humanitarian healthcare within the existing FRRH structure is expected to strengthen the Faculty’s efforts to become a global network for professionals working in clinical and non-clinical environments where skills and experience beyond urban healthcare systems are often required.
The newly integrated Faculty will support the needs of individuals and organisations working across the public, private and third sectors, by setting professional and educational standards, developing leadership capacity, accrediting training and supporting innovation in the field. In addition to our remote and rural healthcare practitioners, the Faculty will act as a professional home for humanitarian healthcare workers and will ensure that those with ambitions to work in the field are supported to move between domestic practice and overseas work.
Two world-leading humanitarian experts have been appointed to the Faculty’s Executive Committee to help shape its strategic focus and drive forward its efforts to support healthcare professionals in the sector.
Founder of UK medical aid charity UK-Med, Professor Tony Redmond OBE, has been appointed to the Executive Committee, bringing over thirty years’ experience of international emergency humanitarian aid.
Professor Redmond has organised medical support in response to some of the world’s most challenging humanitarian disasters, including earthquakes in Haiti and Iran, the UN air crash in Kosovo, conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and establishing tented hospitals for Kurdish refugees on the Iran-Iraq border.
Mr Andy Kent, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, has been appointed as Faculty Deputy Chair. Andy has a military background and has most recently travelled to Beirut with a medical needs assessment team to make recommendations for the UK’s health response in Lebanon’s crisis struck capital. He is also the current surgical lead for UK-Med and a medical advisor to the Halo Trust.
Professor Michael Griffin OBE, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, said: “It is with enormous pleasure that we welcome this newly integrated Faculty. It has long been recognised that the needs and challenges of delivering healthcare in a remote and rural setting overlap with and mirror those of the humanitarian environment.
“The expansion of this Faculty is a fantastic move for the College, and I believe it will be extremely beneficial to people and organisations in these fields.
“I’m very proud of everyone who has contributed to the development of this Faculty so far and I am delighted to welcome Anthony and Andy to the Executive Committee. I know their expertise and experience will be invaluable in shaping the Faculty’s strategy and I look forward to seeing what lies ahead.”
This important development marks a key milestone in the collaborative efforts of the RCSEd and UK-Med to establish a professional home for humanitarian healthcare professionals. This effort has been supported to date by funding from UK aid from the Department for International Development (DfID).
To find out more, go to the new link: https://www.rcsed.ac.uk/faculties/faculty-of-remote-rural-and-humanitarian-healthcare
ENDS
Issued by Beattie on behalf of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. For further information, please contact the team on rcsed@beattiegroup.com or 07730 415 096.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh:
- RCSEd was first incorporated as the Barber Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1505, and is based in Edinburgh and Birmingham.
- It is one of the oldest surgical corporations in the world with a worldwide membership of almost 29,000, which includes 15,000 members in the UK.
- The College also has a significant global presence with members in over 100 countries worldwide.
- The College promotes the highest standards of surgical and dental practice through education, training and examinations, its liaison with external medical bodies and representation of the modern surgical and dental workforce.
- It is also home to the UK’s only Faculty of Surgical Trainers, open to all those with an interest in surgical training regardless of College affiliation.
- Find RCSEd at rcsed.ac.uk, on Twitter, on Facebook, and Instagram.
About UK-Med:
- UK-Med is a Manchester-based charity with thirty years’ experience responding to health emergencies around the world. Our first response was in 1988, when a team of eight Manchester clinicians led by our founder Prof. Tony Redmond went to Armenia in aid of those who had been hit by a devastating earthquake.
- When Ebola hit West Africa in 2014, we recruited NHS volunteers to help in treatment centres in Sierra Leone.
- UK-Med is a partner in the UK Emergency Medical Team - the front line of the UK government’s response to a humanitarian crisis overseas - funded by UK aid from the Department for International Development. We prepare teams of clinicians who are ready to respond to disasters anywhere in the world within twenty-four hours. The EMT network is driven by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and ensures that teams that respond following disasters are well trained, self-sufficient and have the skills and equipment to respond effectively rather than imposing a burden on the national system.
- We provide technical expertise to limit the effect of disease outbreaks and disasters. We prepare healthcare workers to respond to health emergencies, addressing the global shortage of trained health care workers. When local healthcare teams are overwhelmed, our emergency teams can be quickly on the ground providing life-saving care.
- We are on the frontline of the global response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, working in Cambodia, Ghana, South Africa, Zambia, Chad, Burkina Faso, Moria Camp in Greece and Cox’s Bazaar in Bangladesh. We also joined the team that set up Nightingale Hospital North West and have been providing remote support to responders across the world.
- You can find out more about UK-Med on our website or Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
[ENDS]
About The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
RCSEd was first incorporated as the Barber Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1505, and is the oldest surgical corporation in the world with memberships approaching 25,000 professionals in over 100 countries worldwide. The College promotes the highest standards of surgical and dental practice through its interest in education, training and examinations, its liaison with external medical bodies and representation of the modern surgical and dental workforce. It is also home to the UK’s only Faculty of Surgical Trainers, open to all those with an interest in surgical training regardless of College affiliation. Find RCSEd on Twitter www.twitter.com/RCSEd and on Facebook www.facebook.com/rcsed
The College is based at Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9DW and can be reached on (0)131 527 1600 or mail@rcsed.ac.uk. In March 2014, a new base opened in Birmingham, catering to the 80% of the College’s UK membership who are based in England and Wales.
For all media enquiries please contact the Communications Team on +447467 485145 or email comms@rcsed.ac.uk
