Team LUHFT get a visit from The Royal College of Surgeons

President of The Royal College of Surgeons, Professor Neil Mortensen, and Vice President, Mr Tim Mitchell, discovered more about our complex surgical work in a recent visit to the Royal and Aintree hospitals.

While at the Royal consultants discussed our new robotics programme in pancreatic surgery, the developments and challenges in centralising complex and cancer surgery as well as surgical training in Liverpool.

The Royal College of Surgeons’ (RCS) team then took a tour of the Royal to find out more about the new wards and how they work for patients, the new theatre spaces and patient recovery areas.

The following day they spent time at Aintree with a presentation reflecting on the 10 years as a Major Trauma Unit, the work of KnifeSavers, the regional delivery of Maxillofacial services and the LiVES vascular service.

The RCS team then spent time taking to staff in the Major Trauma Ward, ED – Resus, Maxillofacial lab and the Elective Care Centre.

Professor Neil Mortensen, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: “It has been an honour and a pleasure to visit LUHFT in person after a virtual visit in November 2021. The wait to move into the Royal has been worth all the challenges along the way. The building and clinical areas look stunning, and the specialist surgical teams are very special.

“On the Aintree site another group of outstanding surgeons are pushing the limits of trauma, head and neck, vascular, and emergency general surgery. All these brilliant people are collaborating to improve elective and emergency provision for the patients of Liverpool, Merseyside and beyond.”

Week beginning 12 March saw the Glaucoma Team at St Paul’s Eye Unit marking World Glaucoma Week with a series of events including display stands and interactive activities. Every year, the week aims to improve the understanding of glaucoma and its impact.

This year, the World Glaucoma Association’s (WGA) campaign was called “The world is bright, save your sight” - a global awareness initiative on glaucoma spanning across all continents.

Glaucoma is commonly known as the “sneak thief” of sight as it causes irreversible blindness, and the figures are staggering. One in 200 people, aged 40, has glaucoma, and the number rises to one in eight, aged 80. This number is forecasted to skyrocket in the coming years.

In conjunction with World Glaucoma Week, St Paul’s has also launched its own podcast, Eye on Liverpool, with the first episode being on the subject of glaucoma. You can listen to the episode on Spotify and other major download sites by searching ‘Eye on Liverpool.’