President's Message

As President of the Association of Breast Surgery, I hope to build on the excellent progress of my predecessors, while looking to the future. The ABS wants to ensure that any individual with a breast problem receives the very best possible care. This is a simple aim and yet encompasses an enormous body of work by a team of people and is the common aim of all our membership.

In my role, I will continue Leena’s approach of working with partners towards this goal. Training is at the heart of our drive to improve patient care. Our collaborative work with plastic surgical colleagues continues with the training fellowships but this is under threat due to funding challenges that affect many aspects of training. The financial constraints have an impact on all professional groups. How we support all our members achieve their goals in the current financial climate of the NHS is something we can only succeed in as a team. The management of our patients is continually evolving, and we need to ensure we can continue to progress the care we are able to deliver within these financial restrictions. The ABS team can only be stronger through collaboration.

The ABS is the biggest team I have worked with. It is a privilege and a challenge that I relish. Our core team within the ABS office is committed to our aims and supports the efforts of all those who give their time freely to the committees and as Trustees. The wider ABS team are generous with their knowledge and advice, as well as time, and I am grateful for their continuing support. The wider membership links to all the teams delivering breast care across the UK and in other countries too. Breast cancer is a global health issue that connects us to all parts of the world. Through this network, we aim to support our members to deliver the highest standards of care, wherever they work. The ABS is committed to supporting the collection of data (NAoPri, NAoMe and GIRFT) that allows us to analyse our quality and inform future developments.

We all work within multi-disciplinary teams and have regular meetings. When I look around the team and see the knowledge, skill and energy that colleagues focus on each patient, I am confident each one gets the best care we can deliver. It takes a lot of energy and I see the frustration at the barriers to offering the highest standards. My aim as President will be to ensure we give all the support we can to all members of the ABS team and use our voice to address these frustrations and breakdown the barriers. Breast care is truly a team sport and I hope to captain the ABS team to continue towards our goal: each patient deserves the best we can offer.

Sarah Downey
ABS President