Speakers
Mark Bowditch
BOA Session
Healing the Healers – Addressing Moral injury and fostering Just Culture in healthcare
This session explores the critical and often overlooked topic of moral injury in healthcare with a focus upon the current challenges within the NHS. Moral injury occurs when surgeons are unable to provide care aligned with their ethical standards due to systemic pressures, resource constraints or conflicting institutional demands. Unlike burnout, moral injury stems from a profound sense of ethical dissonance which can lead to long-term psychological harm.
We will examine how a Just Culture – one that supports open reporting, learning from errors and fair accountability can serve as a vital framework for addressing moral injury. Through real-world examples we will explore how Trauma and Orthopaedic teams can shift from a blame-based culture to one that prioritises psychological safety, compression and shared responsibility.
Whether you are a surgeon, educator or leader, this session will equip you to champion a more supportive, transparent and ethically grounded healthcare environment.
Agenda
10:35-10:40 Introduction
Mark Bowditch, President, BOA & Amar Rangan, Vice President Elect, BOA
10:40-11:00 Facing the challenges of the NHS for patients and staff
Jocelyn Cornwell, CEO, Point of Care Foundation
11:00-11:20 Moral injury – Why? How? What can be done?
Esther Murray, Director of Research Institute of Health Sciences, Queen Mary University
11:20-11:40 Leading Just Culture into practice
Joe Rafferty, Past CEO, Mersey Care NHS Trust
11:40-12:00 Servant leadership through adversity
Kyle Jeray, President, American Orthopaedic Association
Mark is a Consultant and Divisional Clinical Director MSK & surgical specialties at ESNEFT (Ipswich & Colchester Hospitals) since 2000. Mark’s specialist interests are in surgery of the knee and all levels of surgical education.
He was Chair of the SAC 2017-2020 leading the new curriculum changes, East of England Training Programme Director for 11 years, and is currently Head of School of Surgery. Following three years on BOA Council and one year on the Orthopaedic Committee he joined the Executive as Honorary Treasurer in 2020/21 and is now Vice President.
Prof Amar Rangan holds the Mary Kinross Trust and Royal College of Surgeons Chair at Hull York Medical School (HYMS) and Department of Health Sciences, University of York.
He is a specialist shoulder and elbow surgeon at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Middlesbrough, providing district and tertiary services in his specialty.
He also holds a full professorship with the faculty of medical sciences and NDORMS, University of Oxford.
Amar has held key national leadership roles: President of the British Elbow and Shoulder Society, trustee of the British Orthopaedic Association, and surgeon member of the National Joint Registry Steering Committee.
Amar is a designated supervisor for HYMS integrated academic training and supervises pre-doctoral and doctoral studentships.
He is fellowship director for the nationally accredited shoulder and elbow fellowship at South Tees Hospitals and is course director for the postgraduate MCh(Orth) programme in Teesside.
Amar leads a programme of clinical and translational research, including NIHR funded multi-centre clinical trials.
He has published widely in trauma and orthopaedics, particularly in shoulder and elbow surgery, where his work has influenced clinical practice, national guidelines, and policy.
He is chair of MedConnectNorth and is a member of the NIHR i4i Challenge Awards Committee.