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SECRETARY’S REPORT: 2005
The year began on a positive note with a highly successful and enjoyable Winter meeting organised by Muftah Eltumi in Watford in January, 2005. This has been an active year for the Society.
Deirdre Kelly’s report has outlined our progress with rationalising the financial support required for the Society. With regard to commercial sponsorship, we have produced a written ‘code of conduct’, and this may be seen on the Website.
At the 2005 AGM the membership agreed to a significant but necessary increase in the annual subscription. Linked to that was a decision to ask all Members and Associate Members to re-register with the Society. We have established a completely new Membership Database which we believe will be of great value. Re-registration allows us to ensure that the data entered is up-to-date and accurate. By completing the Members Data Form sent to you during the year you will have provided us with important information regarding your professional status and your clinical and research interests. Designing the database involved a significant effort. It is designed to be flexible and to allow easy retrieval information. I believe it will prove an invaluable resource for the Society and its members in the future. It seems that a few Members may have forgotten to re-register! If you are one of those few, can I appeal to do so now. Old and hence potentially inaccurate information will not be entered on the new database, so if you have not re-registered you will not ‘exist’ in the BSPGHAN membership records. Consequently we will lose contact with you, as we rely more and more on email communication. In parallel with the re-registration process, we also needed to regularise the Member’s subscription arrangements. You will have been asked to provide a cheque to cover the current year’s subscription and also to initiate a new Standing Order arrangement for future years. Again, we appeal to you, if you have not already done so, to make the necessary arrangements immediately.
In the meantime, I am pleased to say that our Society continues to grow. This year I anticipate that at least 12 new Full Members will have joined BSPGHAN. Currently our Constitution indicates that new members are elected at the AGM. This is unwieldy, and I think an anachronism. It does not seem reasonable or necessary for aspiring member to wait up to a year to join BSPGHAN. In line with other Societies, I suggest that the decision on membership be taken at our quarterly Council meetings. I will be putting forward a proposed alteration to the Constitution in regard to this. I am also requesting your agreement to a few other minor amendments intended to merely to clarify our Society’s rules regarding voting rights and also with regard to the President elect. I have written to you all about these proposed changes recently. I hope you will agree to them at the AGM.
Carla Lloyd has been working with Council for some months providing administrative support. She has quickly become an expert in matters relating to the Society, and the energy and enthusiasm she has brought to her role is obvious.
Council met four times in the past year, two of those meetings being jointly with the paediatric section of the BSG. Our links with the BSG are strengthening. In due course we envisage the paediatric section and BSPGHAN council membership being one and the same. We have been able to comment on and contribute to a number of BSG documents in the past year, highlighting paediatric aspects. In particular we have had a substantial input into a BSG ‘Service Document’. There is no National Service Framework for gastroenterology or hepatology, and this document is intended to assist in negotiations regarding the specialty at Trust, SHA and national level.
We feel strongly that there is great benefit to involving patients and their representatives in our Society. During the year I have written to the Directors of various patient support groups relevant to our specialty, asking for their views on how this might best be done. We are now in the process of meeting with them to develop a strategy for ‘user representation’. This will be crucially important in developing clinical practice and standards and in prioritising and designing clinical research studies.
The Medicines for Children Research Network (MCRN) has now been established, and is based in Liverpool, under the umbrella of the UK Clinical Research Network (UKCRN). This is part of a major initiative to reinvigorate clinical research in the UK. It is an exciting venture, and one long needed to promote clinical studies in children. It is part of the UK’s response to European and international concerns about the dearth of clinical research in children. Professor Rosalind Smyth approached BSPGHAN during the year for advice on promoting clinical studies in our specialty. I have been invited to set up a Clinical Studies Group (CSG) for gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition. There will be around 8 CSGs many representing more than one specialty. We are fortunate that that the MCRN agreed to our having our own group. The purpose of the CSG is to act as a point of entry for multi-centre clinical trials and other clinical studies for ‘adoption’ by the MCRN. The CSG will be working towards providing the MCRN with a portfolio of clinical trials. It is anticipated that adoption by the MCRN will allow researchers access to the support infrastructure that is currently being developed round the UK through the Local Research Networks that have now been appointed. A core membership has now been appointed to the CSG, and over the coming months I hope to be in touch with you to invite your active participation.
Over the years a number of sub-groups and working groups have been established. Nigel Meadows as chair of the Clinical Standards Subcommittee is currently taking an overview of the place of these various groups, and will be reporting to us at the AGM.
Stuart Nicholls has very recently resigned from Council as DGH representative. The DGH group, chaired by Graham Briars, will discuss nominations for Stuart’s replacement, and I anticipate that a new representative will be elected at the AGM.
Mervyn Griffiths has also recently stepped down as Council Member representing BAPS. BAPS will now be represented by Simon Huddart.
Lastly, in accordance with our constitution, we must now choose our next President a year prior to their taking up office. For that reason, a Presidential election is currently underway. The result of the postal ballot will be announced at the AGM. The President elect will be able to attend Council meetings for a year before taking office in April 2007.
Finally, our Spring meeting in York will take place on Tuesday 4th April, with Dinner the night before. Our guest speaker will be Professor Christopher Day, to speak on non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Many interesting abstracts have been received and it should be an excellent meeting. I hope you will be there.
Stephen Murphy
SECRETARIES REPORT: 2004
This has been a busy year for the BSPGHAN starting with the highly successful winter meeting in Glasgow organised by Lawrence Weaver.
We have a new president and 3 new council members. Council has met three times this year since the last AGM. We have also had a strategy day to look at the aims and objectives and a work plan for the society which involved current and past council members. The outcome of this is on the website as a report and will be presented at the AGM. I felt the meeting was highly productive and I hope members will endorse the action plan that arose out of it.
One specific issue for the society that arose is the need for stable administrative support which will be discussed at the AGM. This will cost the society at least £5,000 per year and can be funded from reserves for 2005 but will after that require an increase in the membership fee which will need to be implemented for 2005. It is clear to me that this will be required if the society is going to grow in size and strength and impact on clinical practice and service provision.
The society has continued to grow in strength with new full and associate members. Council members representing specific areas/groups and subgroups will report at the AGM. I have asked working groups to provide terms of reference, aims, objectives, workplans and timelines for inclusion in their reports. The proposal that came out of the strategy day that we establish a clinical standards subcommittee of the council will be discussed at the AGM.
I am pleased to report that the Guidelines for Purchasers of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (shortened version) has been published as a chapter in the Royal College guidance on tertiary service provision which is published and available on the RCPCH website. The full version is available on the BSPGHAN website. This should help us inform purchasers how our speciality service needs should be met.
It is clear that the numbers of Paediatric Gastroenterologist in the UK needs to be expanded considerably in order to provide care in line with National recommendations and establish managed clinic network to deliver care. It is crucial that this expansion is accompanied by expansion of the multidisciplinary team, infrastructure and facilities. Funding expansion remains a real issue for providers and this will become more complex with the implementation of payment by results. There is however within that 'top ups' for speciality work as per the National Specialised Services Definition Set and action on that may improve funding for speciality work.
I am pleased to see the establishment of the DGH paediatrician with an interest group which has representation on council and am grateful to Stuart Nicholls and Graham Briars for this. I am pleased to see the links with the BSG are being strengthened.
We have as a society been able to feed into NICE twice this year with positive feedback from them.
I hope everyone will manage to get to York . Professor Michael Farthing from St George's will be our guest speaker and address the important issue of Traveller's Diarrhoea: from the bench to the bedside. Dinner supported by Mead Johnson will be on the Monday night before the BSPGHAN session on the Tuesday.
This is my last report. I have been on the council for 6 out of the last 7 years the last 3 as secretary. I have enjoyed my time enormously and feel privileged to have been able to serve in this role.
Members asked to keep the new secretary up to date with E Mail and postal addresses and access the web regularly for new information.
Mark Beattie
December 2004
SECRETARY’S REPORT: 2003
This has been a busy year for the BSPGHAN starting with the highly successful winter meeting in Dublin . Council has met 3 times since the last AGM. We now have 205 full members and an increasing and active associate members group. Council members representing specific areas/groups and subgroups will report at the AGM.
I am pleased to report that the Guidelines for Purchasers of tertiary paediatric services updates report is now complete and on the web. I would like to thank Rob Heuschkel, Mike Thomson and Ian Sanderson in particular but also the many members who contributed to the production of this report. I hope that this report will help members with local commissioning. The wider challenge of the response to the National Services Framework has been dealt with by the same group with a shortened version of the report been submitted to the college for inclusion in the college guidance on tertiary service provision which is due to be published soon. I am grateful to members for completing the workforce survey which has helped inform the whole process but also enabled us to show that the numbers of paediatric gastroenterologists in the UK needs to be expanded considerably in order to provide care in line with National recommendations and establish managed clinic network to deliver care. Primary Care and district services will be partners in the development of these networks. Stuart Nicholls has led on the establishment of the DGH sub group of the BSPGHAN, which I hope, if the society agrees will have the lead as a member of council. I have been very keen on this as much of our speciality lies within general paediatrics and occurs outside specialist centres and strong district service representation will help us in the decision making about service provision.
Highlights of the year have included the successful joint British Italian Meeting in Lucca in May and thanks to the organisers of that. We need to look for a host centre for the next meeting due here in 2006. There was also the very successful joint meeting with Faculty of History of Medicine at the Apothecaries in November organised by John Walker-Smith and Ian Sanderson with book being planned based upon the meeting.
I hope everyone will manage to get to York . 47 abstracts were submitted. 1 plenary has been accepted and 15 for presentation at our session. Tony Williams from St George’s will be our guest speaker and address the important issue of helping infants breast feed. Dinner supported by Mead Johnson will be on the Monday night before the BSPGHAN session on the Tuesday.
I would like to thank Steven Murphy, John Puntis and Mike Thomson for their work on council over the last 3 years.
Finally thanks to Ian Sanderson who soon completes his highly successful term as president.
Members asked to keep the secretary up to date with E Mail and postal addresses and access the web regularly for new information.
Mark Beattie
Jan 2004
SECRETARY'S REPORT: 2002
This has been a good year for the society starting with the highly successful winter meeting in London. Huw Jenkins handed over to me shortly after that. I hope to continue his commitment and enthusiasm and the society is indebted to him for his hard work over the previous 3 years.
We now have 199 full members and an active associate members subgroup which will report separately in this newsletter. I need all members to keep me up to date with their contact details in particular their E Mails addresses. The various subgroups are active and pushing forward the speciality and will report on progress via this newsletter, the AGM and most importantly the web. The DGH services sub group final report is now on the website and will hopefully be ratified at the AGM. I am indebted to the group members and the wider membership for their input into this hopefully helpful document.
The key challenge in the next 2-3 years will be to respond to the National Services Framework and its impact on the speciality. A sub group has been set up to revise the guidelines for purchasers produced in 1996 which will hopefully have a draft on the web for consultation soon. It will probably also be necessary for there to be a workforce survey as well to update our data on who does what where which will help us make the case for targeting service expansion. A key part of the national services framework is likely to be the establishment of clinical networks which need people in post and with the time to devote to this. Adequate training is going to be essential and the establishment of the national grid is a welcome step in the right direction. The next priority will be to address the training needs of the DGH paediatrician with a special interest.
I hope as many people as possible will join us in Dublin. Please let me know if there are any particular issues which you feel should be raised at the AGM. Can I give advance warning of the York Meeting and the joint Italian meeting in Lucca next year. Further details are on the website.
Mark Beattie
BSPGN SECRETARY’S ANNUAL REPORT:2001
The Society goes from strength to strength, with the membership now standing at 260 (with 73 being Associate Members).
Our great thanks to John Puntis and colleagues for organising such an excellent winter meeting in January 2001, which witnessed the further meetings of the Associate Members’ and Trainees’ Groups, as well as the highlight being the comprehensive victory of Consultants over training grade staff in a competitive and keenly fought soccer match held early on the morning after the dinner (many supporters were there in spirit if not in body).
We held a successful scientific meeting at York in April and at the meeting in 2002 plan to have at least one guest lecturer (Professor Isolauri on probiotics), with the format of mixing papers on gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition, continuing after the success of the last 2 years.
2001 saw the end of Martin Brueton’s very successful reign as President, as well as the end of tenure of Council members, Adrian Thomas, Mark Beattie and Stephen Ryan and we thank them for their excellent contribution over their terms of office. We welcome our new President, Professor Ian Sanderson, and new Council members, Dr John Puntis (nutrition representative on Council), Dr Stephen Murphy and Dr Mike Thomson. Please give thought to replacements for myself as Secretary and Professor Stuart Tanner (hepatology representative) to take over in April 2002. Please could nominations for either/both posts be sent to me (having checked with the nominee first that he/she is willing to stand), with the closing date for nominations being the AGM at the winter meeting in London 2002, which is being hosted by Professor Sanderson and colleagues.
The final but very important point is the need to update members’ records, to include e-mail address, telephone number and fax number. We are keen that in the future, all BSPGHAN news will be communicated via the BSPGHAN website (Mike Bissett is our webmaster) and it is important that all members have access to the internet and have an e-mail address, so that the Council can contact all of you electronically. Please find enclosed a form - I would be grateful if the information could be either sent back to me using this hard copy or, preferably, by e-mailing me at secretary@bspghan.org.uk , so that I can update the list as soon as possible.
With my thanks and kind regards.
Dr Huw R Jenkins MA MD FRCP FRCPCH
Secretary & Convenor
Huw.Jenkins@UHW-TR.wales.nhs.uk
BSPGN SECRETARY’S ANNUAL REPORT:2000
It has been a positive and successful year for the Society. The membership now stands at 239 (with 67 of these being Associate Members). The Associate Membership group is flourishing and we will continue to meet together at the Winter meeting. Our great thanks are due to Bhu Sandhu for organising a very successful Millennial meeting in January 2000, on both scientific and social fronts. At our meeting in York in April, the standard of papers presented was impressive, and the highlight of the meeting was Professor Walker-Smith’s guest lecture. Throughout the year, working groups have been convened (on IBD and endoscopy) and the CSAC continues to discuss the specifics of training, as well as the accreditation of training centres. There is a specific report on the work of the CSAC in this newsletter.
Please note our Winter meeting is now the major meeting of the year and John Puntis and colleagues are in the process of organising an excellent meeting in Leeds in January, which will follow the same format as Bristol, but with the AGM now at this meeting for the first time. Therefore, please make every effort to attend. A final, but very important, point to note is that we need to think about replacements for our Council Members coming to the end of their 3 year term of office in April 2001 Dr Martin Brueton (as President) and Drs Adrian Thomas and Mark Beattie. These are hard acts to follow but please give thought to their replacements, and send me nominations (having checked with the nominee first) by 1 March 2001.
Huw Jenkins
BSPGN SECRETARY’S ANNUAL REPORT:1999
The Society goes from strength to strength and a particular mention must be made with the contribution of Peter Sullivan during his term of office as Secretary. He deserves our thanks and plaudits not only for organising such an excellent meeting in Oxford in September with our Italian colleagues, but also for the huge contribution he has made over the last 3 years to the development of the Society.
Membership of BSPGHAN at present stands at 217, of whom 54 are Associate members. As many of us now work very closely in multi-disciplinary teams, we are keen to encourage Associate members to attend our meetings. To this end there will be a separate meeting of Associate members, to formalise their association with the Society, at the Bristol meeting organised by Dr Sandhu. This will be 10 am to
12.30 pm on Friday, 21 January 2000 at the Swallow Hotel in Bristol. There will be a reduced rate for Associate members to attend the rest of the meeting and stay overnight at the hotel so please encourage your specialist nurses/dietitians to attend. Dr Sandhu will be sending out details to all members. Further information can be obtained from the co-ordinators of this first meeting - Siân Thoms (Nutrition Nurse Specialist in Cardiff, on 02920 744558) and Claire Burnett (Nurse Specialist in Oxford, on 01865 220 934).
The Society has continued to evolve and the Council has drafted some minor changes to the constitution, which will be circulated before, and discussed at, the next AGM in York, April 2000. We will be having the usual all day scientific meeting at York on Tuesday, 11 April 2000, with the AGM during the lunch break. There has been strong support for moving the AGM to the winter meeting of the Society, as time is always short at the RCPCH meeting. Please give thought to this and we can discuss it further in York.
Bhu Sandhu has organised an excellent meeting in Bristol and please register early for this so numbers can be finalised. I stress the importance of the Extra-Ordinary General Meeting during the programme (5 to 6.30 pm on Friday, 21 January 2000) - please make every effort to attend as this will be a forum to discuss the work of our CSAC (in the visiting of possible training centres in the UK and the guidelines on training which have been produced), as well as an opportunity to discuss the draft endoscopy guidelines described by Mike Thomson in this newsletter.
I would be grateful to receive any offers to host any future winter meetings of the BSPGHAN at the address below, and look forward to seeing you in Bristol for what will be an interesting and important meeting.
Department of Child Health
University Hospital of Wales
Heath Park
CARDIFF CF14 4XW
Telephone: 02920 744558
Facsimile: 02920 744559
e-mail: secretary@bspghan.org.uk
BSPGN SECRETARY’S ANNUAL REPORT: 1998
SECRETARY’S ANNUAL REPORT
During the last year the Society has continued to thrive with a total membership now amounting to 198 of which over two thirds are full members. We now have 53 associate members, the increase in numbers coming largely from an amalgamation at associate membership level with the British Paediatric Nutrition and Metabolism Group. It is hoped that this amalgamation marks a much closer link with the BPNMG membership, an issue which will be further discussed at this AGM.
Also during the last year the Society has continued to play a prominent role in the affairs of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health with representation at the Specialty Group Committee and at the College’s first Conference of Committees. The Society, through its officers, has been approached to advise the College on several issues, not least of which have been bids to the National Specialist Commissioning Advisory Group (NSCAG) on both children’s liver services and on services for paediatric intestinal failure. Although not without controversy, these issues have clearly revealed the need for a forum which represents at a national level the needs of children with gastrointestinal and hepatic disease. As our Society grows in stature and influence it is well placed to provide such a forum.
A most important development in the last year has been the commencement of the training assessment visits by the College Specialty Advisory Committee (CSAC) to a number of major paediatric gastroenterology and hepatology centres in England. Although the CSAC is a College committee, and not a committee of the Society, the BSPGN has had a prominent role in the formation and running of this crucially important body.
We participated in the College’s Manpower survey and the census of paediatric gastroenterologists and hepatologists conducted in June 1997 revealed that there are currently 42 consultant paediatric gastroenterologists and hepatologists; 44 general paediatricians with a special interest in paediatric gastroenterology and 26 trainees in the United Kingdom. A further noteworthy development which has emerged during the last year has been the unexpected expansion of posts for consultant paediatric gastroenterologists. The extent to which the BSPGN should be involved in the consultation and planning process for such posts is an issue on which members may have views and, if so, they can write to the president so that a composite view can be passed onto the College.
The BSPGN has continued to strengthen its links with other sister organisations both nationally and internationally including: BPNMG, BAPEN, BSG, ESPGHAN, CAPGAN and the Royal College of Physicians.
The Society has continued to promote post-graduate education and training and for the first time we held a joint training day in October with the Paediatric Section of the Royal Society of Medicine. As detailed in the accompanying papers, this year’s training course due to be held in Leeds had to be postponed by the organisers. Obviously, we will have to address the question of who needs training and when and how best to make the necessary provisions. The Society co-sponsored a successful meeting of the Commonwealth Association of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition in Karachi, Pakistan in November and will co-sponsor the next CAPGAN meeting in April 2000 in Darwen, Australia. Our traditional winter meeting, hosted by Mark Beattie in Peterborough, was a resounding success both academically and socially with 137 members and guests attending this meeting. So many congratulations to Mark for his superb efforts on behalf of the Society! This year 63 abstracts, one of the largest number so far and the majority of high standard, were submitted for presentation in our specialty session at this meeting which is a healthy sign of the amount of academic endeavour within paediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition.
Peter B Sullivan
BSPGN SECRETARY’S ANNUAL REPORT: 1997
The last year has seen momentous changes in British Paediatrics both with the transition to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and with the implementation of the European Specialist Qualifications Order which requires Medical Royal Colleges to establish Specialist Training Authorities who will award Certification of Completion of Specialist Training. The Society has played a prominent role in this process through our Training Advisors, John Walker-Smith and Deidre Kelly who have worked tirelessly to finalise our training prospectus for Higher Specialist Training in Paediatric Gastroenterology.
The Society has also begun the process of nominating a College Specialist Advisory Committee (CSAC) to advise the College on matters relating to training and trainees in Paediatric Gastroenterology, Nutrition and Hepatology. Council has considered that it is imperative that we at the forefront of these developments in order to demonstrate that we can offer credible training programmes in our specialty.
The first National Training Symposium for traineees in paediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition held under the auspices of the BSPGN took place in October 1996 in Usk, Wales. Huw Jenkins, assisted by Mike Cosgrove are to be congratulated for organising this very successful event which attracted 36 trainees. It is proposed to organise a rolling programme of training to cover the core curriculum over 5 years.
Not only in terms of training but also in the provision of clinical services have there been significant developments, I refer to the production (credit for the final production stages of this go to Victor Miller) of the first edition of Society’s Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition Services Guide for Purchasers which has been circulated to the consultant membership.
On the academic front the society continues to thrive with new research from members being presented at a variety of scientific meetings. The 3rd Joint meeting of the Italian Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition with the BSPGN was held in Naples in September 1996 and was a great success. Incidentally, I am happy to announce that the reciprocal meeting will be held in Oxford in September 1999. Mike Bisset is to be congratulated for hosting an excellent winter meeting in Aberdeen (which contrary to expectations was sunny and warmer than the South of England!) at which there were 124 delegates from all over the UK. The British Society of Gastroenterology celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in Brighton in March and although there was not a paediatric section on this occasion the Guest Lecture on Small Intestinal Transplantation was given by Professor Jon Vanderhoof.
The Society has continued to strengthen its links with other sister organisations both nationally and internationally including maintaining representation on Committees of, amongst others, the BSG, ESPGAN, and the Royal College of Physicians.
The BSPGN has endorsed the formation of a National Inflammatory Bowel Disease Register which John Walker-Smith, David Casson and colleagues at the Royal Free Hospital have initiated. The guiding Committee of this Register will be a sub-committee of the Society.
Finally, as a further sign that our Society is thriving I am happy to announce the largest membership figures that we have ever had; we have 147 members of the BSPGN of which 143 are full members and 4 belong to the new category of Associate Member that was endorsed at our last AGM. This last year we have had 14 new members and only 4 resignations.
Honorary Secretary
British Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition 31st March 1998
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