In a warning which underscores protection calls over ‘surgeon’ title, the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) have urged the Government to give a legal backing to their medical status, particularly in the wake of the fact that medics are inappropriately using the title to dupe patients.

Revealing that an increasing number of patients are being misled by practitioners using the title ‘surgeon’ without formal qualifications, the RCS has pointed out that there has been a disquieting spate in cases wherein health workers – from both the NHS and the private sector – are using the title although though they are not medically qualified.

Drawing attention to research findings which indicated the "overwhelming level of public trust" in the job title, the RCS has called for the Government to offer legal protection to the term ‘surgeon’, since a number of patients have come up with reports of botched surgeries carried out by people holding the title.

With there currently being no legal restrictions about which of the medics can and cannot be called a ‘surgeon’, the RCS has requested the Government to create legislation in order to ensure that only those people who have qualified as a medical doctor and have undertaken post-graduate surgical training have the title ‘surgeon.’

Noting that it is “extremely worrying that, in the health sector, clarity regarding job title is lacking,” RCS President Professor Norman Williams said: “Patients undergoing treatment have a right to know the credentials of the person to whom they are entrusting their safety.”