TWO Oxford surgeons will be cycling from Southampton to Edinburgh next month to raise awareness on the importance of patients’ fitness prior to surgery.

Consultant hepatobiliary and pancreatic Surgeon Mike Silva, and Katherine Hurst, academic surgical fellow at Oxford University Hospitals will join colleagues from across the country in the Cycling Symposium named #LetsCycleIt.

On Saturday, September 1 a dozen surgeons and surgeons-in-training from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) will cycle with Mr Silva and Miss Hurst on a seven-day bicycle trek from Southampton to Edinburgh, with Oxford the first stop on the tour.

The Cycling Symposium will also incorporate a series of surgical masterclasses each evening, run by the surgeons who have taken part in the ride.

Topics of discussion include patients’ cardiovascular fitness prior to surgery, RCSEd’s anti-bullying campaign as well as more specialist subjects such as infection prevention and ‘never events’.

They will hold the first masterclass at the John Radcliffe Hospital at 6pm.

Mr Silva said: “Poor physical fitness can lead to costly, yet avoidable, complications after surgery and there is strong evidence that improving a patient’s functional capacity lends to better surgical outcomes.

“#LetsCycleIt is part of a UK-wide campaign to get patients exercising prior to surgery.

For more information visit www.rcsed.ac.uk/events-courses/event-entry?diaryId=2295