Tag: Royal College of Surgeons

Travel agency takes flight after employees’ talent recognised

AN EDINBURGH venue is highlighting its diverse workforce after one employee helped spark the founding of a new division of the business.

With a wide portfolio of businesses including a luxury hotel and city centre cafe, Surgeons Quarter, the commercial arm of The Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh (RCSEd), launched its own travel agency assisted by the skillset of one of its employees.

Justin Mackenzie began his career with Surgeons Quarter as a receptionist in its flagship hotel, Ten Hill Place Hotel, and worked his way up to Guest Services Manager before spearheading the opening of the organisation’s travel agency, SQ Travel after highlighting his previous experience in the sector.

Surgeons Quarter prides itself on providing unparalleled hospitality, as well as inspiring its employees to make a positive difference in and outside of the workplace.

As well as being a Living Wage Employer, it is the first hospitality venue to be a Living Pension Employer, with Surgeons Quarter placing a strong focus on the satisfaction and well-being of its workforce.

Commenting on his time at Surgeons Quarter, Justin said: “Working with people has always been something I love, and Surgeons Quarter recognised my skill set. I didn’t think when I started as a receptionist at Ten Hill Place Hotel, I would end up as a manager of a brand-new travel agency.

“In one of our regular team meetings, we were discussing our careers and what we are interested in. I mentioned that I previously worked at a travel agency when I left school and really enjoyed it. It was always something I considered getting back into. 

“They recognised this and two days later I sat down with our Managing Director Scott Mitchell who asked me if I was interested in being part of the setup of a new venture they were considering, which was SQ Travel.

“We are now growing our team at SQ Travel, it’s an exciting time and knowing I have played such a big part in the formation of the agency is very rewarding.”

Hailing from the Northeast of England, Justin began his career at Hays Travel as a Travel Consultant, seeing the business double in size. Although, always having a keen interest in travel, Justin’s career took him to the hospitality sector across the UK and Spain.

Justin added: “I admire Surgeons Quarter’s ethos around all profits being invested back into funding research for surgeons, which drew me into the job originally. It makes everything feel very rewarding knowing I am helping to contribute to such a worthy cause.

“I would encourage people to consider a career in hospitality, you never know where it will take you!”

Initially set out to streamline travel for surgeons, and now arranging travel and holidays for all, SQ Travel was founded in 2020 and is affiliated with Hays Travel Independence Group.

Surgeons Quarter, Cafe 1305 Scott Mitchell – Managing Director

Scott Mitchell, Managing Director of Surgeons Quarter said: “Our staff are the centre of everything we do. We always aim to showcase their strengths and provide them with a platform so they can thrive in their career.

“Justin was the perfect person to be the driving force behind setting up and pushing forward SQ Travel, he had experience, passion and was eager to get the business started. We wouldn’t be here today without him.

“We take great pride in the passion our employees have for the work they do and services they deliver. We know that a career in hospitality can be challenging, which is why we’re committed to doing everything we can to support our people.”

Surgeons Quarter employs around 200 people across its venues, the majority of which hold operations-based in person roles.

Surgeons Quarter promotes, sells and manages all commercial activities held within the RCSEd campus. It includes facilities for conferences, meetings, private events, parties, weddings and its own four-star hotel Ten Hill Place as well as Café 1505 and SQ Travel. 

Profits from the Surgeons Quarter portfolio go towards the advancement of surgery and the improvement of patient outcomes worldwide. 

More information on SQ Travel can be found here: https://www.sqtravel.co.uk/

More information about Surgeons Quarter can be found at: https://www.surgeonsquarter.com/  

Scottish surgical colleges fund South Sudan’s first-ever paediatric surgeon

Two of Scotland’s most historic and prestigious surgical institutions are collaborating to support the work of leading global healthcare charity Kids Operating Room (KidsOR).

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow have come together to raise funds to support a first-ever paediatric surgeon in South Sudan.

The Colleges, which boast a combined membership of more than 45,000 from all around the world, have joined forces to raise funding for KidsOR’s scholarship programme in South Sudan, which aims to support the scholarship and training of the country’s first paediatric surgeon and for a period of at least five years.

Each College will be looking to raise £6,500 given that £13,000 supports a trainee surgeon through one year of training.

Michael Stitt, Director of Partnerships at The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, said: “The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Global Surgery Foundation exists in order to help to build sustainable surgical capacity in communities suffering from a chronic shortage of care.

“We are funding our share of the donation through the Global Surgery Foundation and KidsOR is a fantastic example of the very reason we have the initiative in place. It provides vital services to children who might not have otherwise had access to the healthcare they need.

“We are delighted to help fund the first paediatric surgeon in South Sudan and are looking forward to seeing the positive impact it has on children in the area.”

Mrs Alison Lannigan, Chair at HOPE Foundation, said: “The fellows and members of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and those of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh have contributed successfully for many years  to the training and education of surgeons both in the UK and overseas.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity through Kids OR to take this further and collaborate in the funding of the Paediatric Surgical Scholarship Programme in South Sudan. At RCPSG, our members recognise the need to improve surgical care on a global scale and are delighted to award funding from the Hope Foundation to this worthy endeavour.”

Prof George Youngson, CBE trustee of Kids OR said: “Developing surgical services for children in a difficult part of the world, needs careful planning, commitment and resources particularly at a time when health services in our own country are being greatly stretched.

“However, in a characteristically Scottish visionary way, the two surgical colleges in Scotland have come together and looked beyond our own immediate challenges and taken an initiative that will provide treatment for a huge number of children in need of care elsewhere in the world. This support will not just be life changing for some, it will change many lives.”

Whilst the pandemic has a global perspective, so does the lack of access to surgical treatment for children particularly in those parts of the world like South Sedan where external aid is hard to penetrate. This makes the investment in assisting and developing local solutions provided by local surgeons and carers all the more precious.

David Cunningham, CEO of KidsOR, said: “We would like to thank the Royal Colleges for supporting our work in South Sudan. Despite being a country of 11 million – over half of whom are children – South Sudan lacks a single paediatric surgeon.

“The country also lacks the infrastructure with no paediatric Operating Room. This is reflected in the fact the country has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world (58.6 per 1,000 live births) and an alarmingly high under-fives mortality rate (89.8/1,000).”

Mr Cunningham added: “By coming together to fund the paediatric surgeon program, both of Scotland’s ancient Surgical Colleges will symbolise the power of partnership and the global reach of both Colleges, and would be celebrated across the diverse memberships of both institutions.”

Since 2018, the KidsOR Scholarship Program has worked with a number of partners to both fund the scholarships programme and to develop the infrastructure and networks needed to train paediatric surgeons across Africa. The first of the 120 KidOR surgical scholars are just now beginning to graduate.

One such graduate surgeon is Dr Alicia Messenga, who is based at Bugando Medical Centre, in Mwanza, Tanzania – a hospital that provides services to a population of almost 17 million (one third of the total population of the country).

Dr Messenga said: “Successful completion of my studies has benefitted our community as paediatric patients get the specialist care they need. As Bugando Medical Centre is also a university teaching hospital, surgical students get exposure to paediatric surgery now that we have a paediatric surgery unit in the hospital thanks to KidsOR and Smile Train.”

Later this year, KidsOR will begin training South Sudan’s first paediatric surgeons. The two scholars are Dr Betty Arkangalo Yuggu Phillimona (above) and Dr Bidali James Sebit Nzira. The Royal Colleges’ funding will be supporting the training of Dr Betty Arkangalo Yuggu Phillimona.

KidsOR is a charity tackling the global crisis in children’s surgery. You can donate to their lifesaving work by visiting www.kidsor.org.

Edinburgh Hotel Chef’s Recipe for Success

AN EDINBURGH hotel chef who fed thousands of NHS workers during the Coronavirus pandemic reveals how they helped fuel frontline medics.

Alan Dickson, Executive Chef at Surgeons Quarter, was part of the star hospitality team which kept Ten Hill Place Hotel open to accommodate NHS workers for free in March and April.

At the beginning, Alan took the decision to strip the usual menus back, focusing on ensuring the team had enough tinned goods, flour, and yeast to last them six weeks.

Alan, who lives in Edinburgh, said: “Working in the kitchen was instantly different – there were three chefs on rotation with only one working at a time. We brought in new health and safety precautions immediately, we couldn’t take any risks with the NHS staff who were staying with us.

“Like most people, we didn’t really know what we were about to face at the start of the pandemic. We knew fresh fish and meats would be a little more difficult to get, so we redesigned the menu around what we had available.

“As we got to know NHS workers by name and regularly caught up with them after their hectic shifts, we began to appreciate how much many of them were missing their home comforts, so we changed our menus accordingly.

“We served lots of chicken curry, lasagnes – the type of home cooked meals you’d have with your family. It meant a lot to us to be able to provide some sort of support to the people at the very front of this pandemic.”

The Hotel, which is owned by Surgeons Quarter, the commercial arm of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, took the decision to provide more than 2,000 nights of free accommodation and meals for frontline medics working at Edinburgh’s hospitals.

Alan was thrilled with the small part Ten Hill Place staff played in providing respite to hardworking frontline staff.

He continuued: “There wasn’t much we could do, but like everyone else we wanted to help in the one way we could – with our food and expertise. Our guests were fantastic, they were so grateful for the opportunity to stay nearby the hospitals between shifts.

“Our suppliers were also brilliant at communicating with us. We worked with one amazing butcher and one fruit and veg supplier – Campbells Prime Meat and Mark Murphy Fruit and Veg – who were able to source what we needed.

“We ended up sourcing around 200kg of sausages, and 200kg of bacon for cooked breakfasts – as well as providing healthy packs our medics could take to work, with fruit, yoghurt and water bottles.”

Alan joined Ten Hill Place in 2014 and was awarded Hotel Chef of the Year 2017 at the Scottish Hotel Awards.

The hotel reopened on 15 July in accordance with Scottish Government guidance.

Cafe 1505 and Drinks & Dining at Ten Hill Place Hotel are both taking part in the Eat Out to Dine Out scheme for the duration of August.

Guests can receive 50% off their bill in the cafe or the restaurant, to a maximum value of £10, at any time from Monday – Wednesday.

Profits from the Hotel go towards the College’s charitable objectives of improving access to surgery and saving lives worldwide.

Ten Hill Place Hotel gave a total of 2,137 free room nights to NHS staff working in Edinburgh’s hospitals between March – May this year.

Old Town partnership takes centre stage with new conference destination

TWO of Edinburgh’s most iconic Old Town institutions are joining forces in a move that is set to deliver a multi-million-pound boost into the heart of the city. The prestigious Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) and the Festival Theatre are pooling their resources to create a one-stop ‘large conference destination’ with unrivalled character – utilising the best qualities of some of the capital’s finest settings. Continue reading Old Town partnership takes centre stage with new conference destination