Future of Surgery Festival: Building a more equitable future for breast surgery

Breast surgery sits at the intersection of technical expertise, multidisciplinary teamwork and deeply personal patient care. As surgery continues to evolve, the challenge before us is not simply how breast surgery will change, but how we ensure that progress is fair, inclusive and sustainable.

The RCS England Future of Surgery Festival offers a valuable space to reflect on these questions. By bringing together surgeons and surgical teams from across specialties and career stages, the Festival encourages open discussion about the shared challenges facing modern surgery, and how we collectively shape a more equitable future.

Equity in patient care and professional opportunity

In breast surgery, equity has multiple dimensions. For patients, it encompasses timely access to high‑quality care, consistent availability of reconstruction and oncoplastic expertise, and culturally competent communication that respects individual values, beliefs and circumstances. For professionals, equity means fair access to training opportunities, mentorship, leadership roles and career progression, regardless of background, geography or working pattern.

Although progress has been made, variation in service provision, workforce capacity and access to specialist training remains. These disparities affect patient experience, but also the sustainability of the breast surgical workforce. Addressing them requires deliberate effort, informed by lived experience and supported by cross‑specialty learning.

One ABS member speaking at the Festival captures this clearly:

“Culture, belief and lived experience shape how patients understand illness, make decisions and experience surgical care.

I’m thrilled to be speaking at the Future of Surgery Festival 2026 on how race, ethnicity and belief influence surgical practice and patient care.

Excited to hear from colleagues and spark conversations on building a more equitable future for surgery.

Thank you to the Future of Surgery Festival team and The Royal College of Surgeons of England for the invitation to speak and for organising this brilliant event."

Miss Sarah Hudson-Phillips
TIG Fellow Oncoplastic Breast Surgery 
St Bart’s Hospital, London

Supporting a diverse and sustainable workforce

Workforce sustainability is central to equity. Breast surgery relies on close multidisciplinary collaboration and often involves managing emotionally demanding clinical work alongside service pressures. Ensuring a supportive, inclusive professional environment is critical if we are to retain talented surgeons and attract the next generation to the specialty.

For trainees, equity means reliable access to operative experience, supervision and mentorship, regardless of training location or personal circumstance. For consultants, it includes flexible job planning, leadership development and recognition of the full breadth of professional contribution, including education and service improvement.

The Future of Surgery Festival provides a forum to examine these issues alongside colleagues from other specialties. Learning how different areas of surgery are responding to workforce pressures, wellbeing challenges and changing career expectations can inform more resilient approaches within breast surgery.

Inclusion is central to innovation

Innovation is rapidly reshaping breast surgery. However, innovation that is not implemented equitably risks widening existing gaps in access and outcomes.

As new tools and technologies become embedded in practice, critical questions arise. How do we ensure that training in new techniques is accessible to all? How do we avoid variation driven by resources rather than patient need? And how do we assess innovation not only by technical capability, but by its impact on equity, experience and outcomes?

The Festival’s emphasis on reflective discussion creates space to explore these questions responsibly.

Shaping the future together

The Association of Breast Surgery is grounded in collaboration, shared learning and advocacy for high standards of patient care. Building a more equitable future for breast surgery will depend on maintaining that collective approach: listening to diverse voices and learning across specialties.

The RCS Future of Surgery Festival offers an opportunity to engage in that work together, and the Association of Breast Surgery is proud to contribute to those conversations.

Find out more about the Future of Surgery Festival