- Annual Report

The Cerebral Ageing and Mental Health Special Interest Group has continued to be active, despite the fact that it has not secured sponsorship or other funding.

In March 2003, in collaboration with the BGS Primary Care and Care Home Special Interest Group (now called the Primary and Continuing Care SIG), the Cerebral Ageing and Mental Health SIG participated in the Faculty’s residential meeting in London, facilitating a workshop on Geriatrician and old age psychiatrist involvement in care homes. Noeleen Devaney, with help from colleagues in both SIGs, then redrafted the Royal College of Pychiatrists’ Position Statement on Specialist Medical Input to Residential and Nursing Home Residents.

This document is currently with the Policy Committee of the BGS and with the Executive Committee of the Royal College of Psychiatrists for ratification. A similar workshop is planned for the residential meeting in Liverpool, March 2004. The importance of this work, in terms of developing policy in collaboration with outside organisations (RCPychiatrists, RCGP, RCN), led to our SIG being established as one of two that have a direct role in formulating BGS policy, reporting to the UKMC through the Policy Committee of the BGS.

Parallel Sessions
In April 2003, we provided a parallel session at the BGS Scientific meeting in Aberdeen. This focused on the 1921 and 1936 Scottish dementia cohort studies. Unfortunately an attempt to provide a third stand alone meeting on Mental and Physical Health Problems in Prisons failed due to inadequate delegate numbers.

In April 2004, we are providing a parallel session at the BGS Scientific meeting in Londonderry, on Old Age Liaison Psychiatry. We shall be bidding for an opportunity to provide a parallel session at a future BGS scientific meeting in collaboration with the BGS Medical Ethics SIG.

Members of the SIG committee have provided and continue to provide guidance to the BGS on responding to NICE guideline developments, e.g. Anxiety and Panic Attacks; Self Harm; Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Bipolar Disorder; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Cholinesterase Inhibitors in Moderate and Severe Dementia.

I represent the BGS on the RCPsychiatrists Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry Working Group on Old Age Liaison Psychiatry. Members of the SIG are also working with the BGS to develop guidelines on delirium.

Ongoing Liaison
On behalf of the SIG, I and committee members continue to seek ways of bringing Old Age Psychiatrists and Geriatricians together in educational and research fora and would welcome any suggestions of ways to achieve this.

All committee members were re-elected in 2003 for a second and final term of office. Nominations are being sought for future committee membership, as we will need a new committee in 2006. A new post of trainee representative was elected to the committee.

Duncan Forsyth
Chairman
Cerebral Ageing and Mental Health SIG