Sun Kang, MD MPH

A laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a major operation with significant major potential complications, including mortality. Even as consultants, there is a great deal of scrutiny on the number of cases and the complication rate. It is also an excellent training procedure for career surgical trainees who have been through 5 years at medical school and then at least 3 to 4 years before they are allowed to perform these cases. They have also been through structured surgical training as well as completing basic surgical skills training and laparoscopic skills training and completed Part 1 and Part 2 MRCS. These operations are NOT for the novice and should NOT be performed by anyone other than a trained surgeon or a surgeon in training with appropriate supervision AND only by qualified medical doctors. We should not play with patients' lives. This is unsafe and dangerous and needs to be stopped immediately. The @RCSnews should have raised concerns during the peer review of this case series for publication. I am astounded that the local ethical committee felt that approval was not necessary. @WalsallHcareNHS need to stop this practice with immediate effect.