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Graham Finlayson
Northern Irish Rep
Although I’m originally from Scotland, I’ve now been a trainee within the Northern Irish System for 6 years and I’m very proud to represent my adopted country. Like the Scottish and Welsh representatives, a large part of my role within the BOTA committee involves identifying some of the nuances of our devolved healthcare systems and how they may impact training.
I am also involved in the organisation of the BOTA Summer School along with my Scottish and Welsh counterparts. As with all other members I also contribute to committee meetings and the publication of JOINT. I firmly believe BOTA is a crucial voice for orthopaedic trainees across the UK and I am very proud of being associated with the work we do.
Role Responsibilities
The Northern Ireland Rep is a slightly unusual job on the BOTA committee in that your main role is to represent a region and highlight the slightly unusual political challenges that can be faced in work to the rest of the committee. As I type, we have been without a government in Stormont for over a year and half, and the impact is being felt within the NHS and amongst trainees. We have the longest waiting times in the UK, and are increasingly seeing elective surgery impacted by trauma and bed pressures. On the committee, I feel that the position requires you to be highly adaptable – at major events you often have the time to do things others cannot due to their more pressured roles with increased responsibilities, and need to accept that the unglamorous jobs need doing!