The new Association, BAPRAS was launched at 5.30pm on July 11th 2006.  

BAPRAS is a mutation from the long established British Association of Plastic Surgery. BAPS  was formed from an idea put forward at a meeting at Hill End Hospital in 1944. The main principles behind its conception were to control and safeguard the interests of surgeons practising in the specialty and to direct its development. Thirty-six people attended the first meeting, which was held on 20th November 1946 at the Royal College of Surgeons in London, Sir Harold Gillies being the first president. The membership expanded to 770 (all categories) in 2006 with representation from 54 countries.

From the outset it was maintained that study and research should be fostered, coordinated and disseminated amongst the profession. To this end The British Journal of Plastic Surgery first appeared in March 1948, and this continues today as the organ of the Association, although the name has now been changed to Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (JPRAS) and the Journal is published on a monthly basis.

Now, some 59 presidents later, the Association is vibrant with an active Council served by eleven sub-committees. The secretariat, housed in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, has five permanent staff. The aims remain the same.

BAPS since 1946 The history of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons was commissioned by the Council of the Association to celebrate the 40th birthday of the Association in November 1986. It combines the story of the development of the speciality of plastic surgery in the United Kingdom with the history of the Association.

Anthony Wallace, the editor, and John Barron convened a meeting in the Rose and Crown, Salisbury on the 30th March 1985. (watercolour of Salisbury Cathedral executed at the meeting). 

The publication traces the origins of the BAPS from the Big Four (Gillies, Kilner, McIndoe and Mowlem), through the development of the principles of the association, to the modern day development of plastic surgery through research and education. The main principles of the constitution are:  

• To direct the development of the speciality along sound and progressive lines

• To foster and coordinate study and research in plastic  surgery

• To enable dissemination of knowledge among its members  and profession as a whole  

The publication has been contributed to extensively by plastic surgeons and members of the Association. In 1986, Charles Chapman (the archivist at that time) commented that: In an age where television and satellite communications encourage the formation of associations and societies of persons with similar interests almost overnight, the birth of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons 40 years ago must seem to any to have been delayed unduly. The formation of the Association did not result from any particular technical breakthrough, indeed it can be said that it was born through a process of logical evolution greatly stimulated by the two World Wars. The foundations of the speciality in the UK were laid in the 19th century by notable, if isolated, achievements of British surgeons in the realm of reconstructive surgery.

The history of BAPS was published in December 1997 and edited by A.F. Wallace. Copies are available from the secretariat. The cost, inclusive of postage and packing, is £10.00 (UK destinations) and £15.00 (all overseas destinations). Please send a cheque payable to "BAPRAS" and delivery address to: BAPRAS, The Royal College of Surgeons of England, 35/43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3PE. Or email: secretariat@bapras.org.uk for further information.

Since the foundation of the Association in 1946, there have been many changes in the way that health care is provided in the UK and many developments in the scope of the specialty.  It was recognised that the time had come to reflect these and other changes in the name of the Association.  At the Annual General Meeting in December 2004 the decision to rename the Association "British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS)" was approved and the necessary changes to the Constitution were confirmed at the Annual General Meeting of December 2005.