Chair's Report - May 2026
Dear Colleagues
I am honoured to be serving as Chair of the RACS NSW State Committee, and I look forward to navigating challenges for surgical care in our State.
I would like to warmly welcome our newly elected members: Dr Cara Morris (ENT), Dr Angela Li Ching Ng and Dr Rodney Allan (Neurosurgery) and also welcome back Dr Timothy Pollitt as a re-elected member, and congratulate Dr Vikram Puttaswamy (Trauma/Vascular) and Dr Irandi (Nipu) Jayatilleke (General Surgery), who transition from co-opted to elected positions.
We farewell from the Committee Dr Gemma Olsson, Dr Michael Su, Dr Mark Dexter, and outgoing RACS Vice President Prof Ray Sacks. On behalf of the Committee, I thank them for their dedicated service. I also wish to acknowledge the outstanding leadership of outgoing Chair, Dr Pecky De Silva, whose stewardship has guided the Committee through its challenges over the past two years. Her advocacy, collegiality and commitment to our Fellows and trainees have left a lasting mark.
Several critical issues will shape the Committee's priorities over the next 12-24 months. Workforce remains paramount, with RACS opposing the Federal Government's expedited SIMG pathways for General Surgery and ENT on patient safety grounds, citing inadequate supervision periods and the need for mandatory rural service obligations. We continue to press for solutions to geographic maldistribution, theatre access, and improved employment conditions for accredited and unaccredited trainees, particularly given the absence of NSW Clinical Surgical Training Council meetings in recent years.
Trauma advocacy is a defining priority. The State Coroner's findings into the Westfield Bondi Junction attack of 13 April 2024, delivered in February 2026, alongside the more recent devastating shooting incident on Bondi Beach have profound implications for our trauma surgical community. The Committee will advocate strongly to ensure recommendations are implemented in a meaningful and resourced manner — including improvements to interoperability between NSWPF and NSWA, mass casualty triage tools, and active armed offender response. Equally important is ensuring our trauma surgeons, theatre teams and trainees who responded receive sustained psychological, professional and peer support to manage the long-tail impacts of these unprecedented events. We will also seek clarity on system-level investment in trauma capacity across Sydney's major centres.
Planned surgery access also demands attention. The NSW Audit Office's May 2026 report found only 4 of 17 LHDs/SHNs met the zero-overdue target in 2024-25, reinforcing the case for expanded theatre lists and other strategies to be explored to ensure patients receive timely access to surgical care. We will also continue to monitor and advocate for the implementation of CHASM and begin planning for another Roundtable event later in the year.
Dr Danette Wright
Chair, RACS NSW
State Committee
