Surgeons stitch it together

Abstract

Nine surgical associations have combined to form a powerful new lobbying and negotiating body which will increase their clout in preparation for among other things, the National Health Insurance, (NHI), new Ethical Tariffs, procedural fees and in attracting better congress funding.
Nearly five years in the making and called the Federation of South African Surgeons, (FOSAS), the new body will allow smaller surgical and related bodies to punch well above their weight in national health related forums. So far the umbrella body consists of the Association of Surgeons of South Africa (ASSA), the College of Surgeons of South Africa, the South African Association of Paediatric Surgeons (SAAPS), the South African Colorectal Society, the South African Surgical Research Society (SRS), the South African Society of Endoscopic Surgeons (SASES), the South African Society of Surgeons in Training (SASSiT), Surgicom, the Trauma Society of South Africa (TSSA) and the Vascular Society of South Africa (VASSA). However the Chairperson, Dr Elmin Steyn, invited all other surgical disciplines and societies linked to surgery to join, emphasising that FOSAS was not created in opposition to the South African Medical Association, (SAMA), (currently hard at work trying to woo breakaway specialists back into their fold), but as a ‘political grouping with clear mandates’.