Surgical Care Practitioner Practice: One Team's Journey Explored

Abstract

Surgical practice in the UK changed in 1993, when Suzanne Holmes and her cardiac surgical colleagues introduced the surgical care practitioner role (SCP). Within a consultant led extended surgical team, SCPs work alongside a variety of healthcare practitioners to provide safe patient care, meet service demands and educate the future surgical workforce. This article reviews the history of this development over the last fifteen years in the context of a busy orthopaedic department and discusses some unforeseen consequences.