October 1999, Amended June 2000, October 2003, March 2009

1.         Remit

The remit of a Scottish Committee for Orthopaedics and Trauma would be :

• To represent the consultant surgeons working in Orthopaedics and Trauma in Scotland.
• To respond and report to requests from the Scottish Parliament.
• To particularly consider professional practice and service provision, including Clinical Governance and quality issues, but also to act as a forum for discussion of issues in education and training (whilst recognising that the responsibility for these elements lies with other bodies)
• To establish and prosecute a Clinical Effectiveness Programme.
• To act as a central reference point in data collection, both for staffing and workload (with projected changes), and to act as an umbrella organisation for structures such as a Scottish Arthroplasty Register.
• To Link with the Scottish Royal Colleges and the BOA.

 

2.         Membership of the Committee

 

Membership of the Committee will be restricted to consultant surgeons (including Honorary Consultants) practising in Scotland, and attendance of Committee meetings will be recorded and the record published at the Scottish Orthopaedic Club annual meeting.

 

The composition of the committee will be as follows :

 

Regional representation: (n=8) – nominated or elected representative for each grouping

 

1 Grampian and Highland – 28 Consultants

(Aberdeen 14, Elgin 4, Inverness 8, Stornoway 2)

1 Tayside – 19 Consultants

(Dundee 14, Perth 5)

1 Lothian and Borders – 27 Consultants

(Edinburgh – RIE 18, Livingston 5, Borders 4)

1 South West – 17 Consultants

(Dumfries 5, Ayr 5, Kilmarnock 7)

1 Fife and Forth Valley – 16 Consultants

(Dunfermline/Kirkcaldy 8, Stirling 4, Falkirk 4)

2 Glasgow and West – 46 Consultants

(Western 9, Southern 5, Victoria 5, Royal, Yorkhill 5, Inverclyde 5,

Paisley 8)

1 Lanarkshire – 15 Consultants

(Monklands 5, Law 5, Hairmyres 5)

 

Ex officio representatives (n=9) of

 

RCSEd (from Speciality Advisory Board)

RCP&SGlas

Scottish Office (Specialty Adviser)

Academic Departments

Heads of Training Programme

Junior Staff (SpR) representative

Lay Representative (agreed SCOT meeting May 2000)

Golden Jubilee National Hospital

 

1. Committee n=15.  Elected Regional Representative may also full a dual role as an ex officio member, for instance representing a College, etc.  (Scottish Orthopaedics Meeting, Stirling, 2.6.00)

Ad hoc members may be co-opted onto the Committee for specific agenda items for a limited term (normally not exceeding 12 months).

 

3.         Nomination/Election

 

Each regional representative will be nominated or elected from their consultant grouping (constituency), with an alternative.  Where there is any dissent over a nomination, the issue will be decided by election.

 

4.         Term of Office

 

The normal term of office would be three years.  To avoid a wholesale change of committee at the expiry of the first term of office, it was agreed that 50% of the membership would have an initial term of office of two years, and the other 50% of three years.

An elected Regional Representative may stand for re-election, but only for two consecutive terms of office.  (Scottish Orthopaedic Meeting, Stirling, 2.6.00)

 

5.         Officers

 

The Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary will be elected from within the Committee by the Committee members.  Ex-officio members may be considered for positions of office. Nominations must be accompanied by a seconder.The period of office will normally be for three years.

 

6.         Links with the BOA

 

The committee will have close links with the British Orthopaedic Association, although it is not formally embedded within the BOA structure.  BOA membership is not a prerequisite to sit on the Committee which is to represent all Consultants in Scotland.  The Chair of the Committee will be co-opted to the BOA Council for 12 months in the first instance and it will therefore be appropriate for the Chairman, if not a BOA fellow, to seek membership of the British Orthopaedic Association for the duration of his or her office.  This is regarded as only appropriate to represent the 90+% of Consultants in Scotland who are Fellows of the BOA.

 

7.         Meetings

 

Meetings will normally be held at either the Scottish Office, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.  Other venues at hospitals in Scotland may be used.  The full Committee will meet at least three times per year, with other meetings as required.  The Executive of the Committee (Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Immediate Past Chair) will meet more frequently, with close communication with the other members of the Committee.

 

 

The minutes of the meetings will be sent to the BOA, the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, and the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland.

 

8.         Funding

 

Core funding will be requested from the Scottish Executive to cover secretarial and organisational matters.  The Chief Medical Officer has agreed to instruct Trusts regarding support with travel expenses for representatives on the Committee.  The British Orthopaedic Association will fund appropriate single item projects, e.g. Manpower Studies.