North West School of Surgery - Core Surgical Training - Greater Manchester, Lancashire and South Cumbria
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Core Surgical Training
Back to Core Surgical Training overview
Greater Manchester, Lancashire and South Cumbria
Information on this page relates to the Greater Manchester, Lancashire and South Cumbria sector of North West England (former North Western Deanery).
Key Contacts
Miss Corinne Owers, from 1 Apr 2025
Core Surgery Training Programme Director for Greater Manchester, Lancashire and South Cumbria
Based at Blackpool Victoria Hospital
Mr James Pollard,
Core Surgery Training Programme Director for Greater Manchester, Lancashire and South Cumbria
Based at Royal Bolton Hospital
Miss Sabeen Akhtar,
Core Surgery Training Programme Director for Education/Teaching
Based at Royal Oldham Hospital and Rochdale Infirmary
Susan Walsh,
Core Surgical Training Teaching Programme Coordinator
Annual Review of Competence Progression (ARCP)
Overview of Core Surgical Training in the Cheshire and Merseyside Sector
For up-to-date track information for recruitment, please visit the NHS England - North West Core Surgical Training Recruitment page:
The East Sector of NHS England – North West runs a themed programme for Core Surgical Training. The themes available are: General Surgery, Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Urology, Plastic Surgery, ENT, OMFS, Paediatric Surgery and Cardiothoracic Surgery.
In most rotations the CT1 year will include 6 months in the chosen theme and 6 months in an allied Specialty. The CT2 year will usually be 12 months in the theme but this can be flexible. Rotations are often based in the same area or same Hospital but again this is open to flexibility if spaces allow.
The three Plastic Surgery rotations run slightly differently to allow coverage of all the required subspecialties for ST3 applications. There are three 4-month rotations in the CT1 year, including burns. In the CT2 year there is 6 months in Plastic Surgery and 6 months in either Breast Surgery or Hand Surgery.
The five ENT rotations and OMFS rotations will usually include two other allied specialties over the course of the two years.
Educational Opportunities
Resident doctors in CT1 and CT2 are expected to attend local educational programmes, which are held within the hospital they are working in.
There is a comprehensive core teaching programme which takes place once a month on a Wednesday, attendance is mandatory and an attendance register is kept and monitored.
Please see the Core Surgical Training Overview page for more information.
Research, Audit and Teaching
Opportunities for clinical research exist within all departments involved in the programme and doctors are expected to take advantage of this. All resident doctors should be actively involved in audit on an ongoing basis and be in a position to demonstrate this at annual appraisal and ARCP interviews. Teaching of less experienced medical colleagues, medical students, nurses and other paramedical staff is an integral part of the post and all resident doctors are expected to be involved in this.
Hospitals on the Core Surgical Training Greater Manchester, Lancashire and South Cumbria Sector Rotation
JP = James Pollard
CO = Corinne Owers
GMC Programme Codes: NWE1085 (Core Surgery - was NWE1113 and NWD941), NWE1127 (Cardiothoracic Surgery run-through - was NWD2474) and NWE1165 (OMFS run-through - was NWE1168 and NWD2502).
Each rotation is designed to cover the curriculum for core surgery over the two years. Full details of the curriculum can be viewed on the ISCP website www.iscp.ac.uk
Last updated: 1 April 2025