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The Society’s forthcoming Autumn Meeting will once again be held in Harrogate.

This has proved an excellent venue for the past two years, providing modern facilities and plenty of space in the setting of this lovely old Yorkshire spa town which combines history and scenery with shopping and Betty’s Tea Rooms.

In keeping with the Betty’s tradition, we have prepared a “layer cake” of essential clinical updates, filled with original research and iced with innovative thinking from some of our specialty’s most inquiring minds.

The meeting opens on Wednesday 4th with a half-day symposium on Clinical Effectiveness Evaluation (CEE). Speakers include the Chair of the NICE Technology Appraisals Committee and the Director of the CEE Unit at the RCP. The focus will be on how CEE has developed, incredibly rapidly, in recent years to drive forward implementation of evidence-based improvements in service delivery and patient management in Geriatric Medicine.

Thursday 5th has a packed programme of clinical updates covering Valvular Heart Disease, Cataract, Depression and Paranoid States, Lung Cancer, Myelopathy and Constipation. All these sessions are leavened with research presentations chosen from the best original work currently pushing our specialty forwards.

This year’s Marjory Warren guest lecture is given by the distinguished geriatrician Professor Colin Powell from Halifax – Nova Scotia, not West Yorkshire. He will use the example of Dr Warren herself, whom he knew personally, to challenge us to consider the future direction of our specialty. After lunch, the SIGs and Sections will cover topics in Medical Ethics and Drugs and Prescribing. There will also be plenty of opportunity to visit the Exhibition area and discuss the Research and Clinical Effectiveness poster presentations with their authors. Each day of the meeting will be book-ended by Sponsored Symposia, which this year cover Parkinson’s Disease, Dementia, Pain, Restless Legs and Osteoporosis.

On Thursday evening, the Society’s Dinner will be held at the Majestic Hotel, where the food has been consistently excellent, affording delegates further opportunities to network and socialise with colleagues from home and abroad. Our after-dinner speaker needs no introduction to many of our members – Professor Ray Tallis is a colossus in our specialty whose deep insights on the philosophy of the mind and the future of healthcare have been widely published.

On Friday morning we have parallel sessions on Venous Thromboembolism and Modernising Medical Careers. The Trevor Howell lecture will be given by Professor Cillian Twomey from Cork, who will take us on a journey through the development of geriatric medicine in Ireland. The final session of the meeting is a Symposium on hepato-biliary disease covering developments in hepato-biliary surgery, liver failure and the perennial conundrum of what to do about abnormal liver function tests.

Our colleagues from abroad
As always, we extend a warm invitation to our colleagues from Europe and beyond. We value their participation at our meetings. Presenters from developing countries are also reminded that the BGS waives the registration fees. See the BGS website for more information.

For young doctors and SpRs who have been accepted to present work at the BGS Autumn meeting, but who are unable to secure study leave allowance, the BGS offers help here too. See the BGS website (select Grants - Young Doctor’s Education Grant) for more information.

Harrogate and surrounds
While some people (especially we Southerners who have so long benefited from being close to London where the Autumn meeting was held for so many years) have grumbled that Harrogate is not easy to reach (one has to change at York, if coming by train), the visit to Harrogate and Yorkshire makes the trip worthwhile. Harrogate itself is known as England’s floral town, with a rich spa heritage and dignified architecture.
Harrogate town centre is very “shopper friendly” with a wide range of shops in relatively pedestrianised areas to make for pleasant browsing or some serious retail therapy.

The surrounding countryside is one of the most spectacular in England - Knareborough, just a few minutes from Harrogate, where Georgian houses dominate a charming market town perched on high cliffs above the River Nidd. Narrow streets and ginnels enhance the olde world feel of the place.

Attractions abound, including Mother Shipton's Cave and Petrifying Well, castle ruins, Court House Museum, boating, riverside walks and a colourful market.

Eleven miles north of Harrogate, the medieval city of Ripon has a magnificent cathedral. The Ripon Hornblower maintains a 1,100 year old tradition by sounding his horn at the Market Place obelisk at 9pm every evening, "Setting the Watch".

The Dales towns of Pateley Bridge, in Nidderdale, and Masham, home of Theakstons and the Black Sheep Breweries beside the River Ure to the north, are well worth a visit, as are Aldborough, with its extensive Roman remains, and the neighbouring town of Boroughbridge, once an important coaching post on the Great North Road from London to Edinburgh.

Natural wonders include Brimham Rocks, consisting of ancient outcrops of weather-shaped millstone grit and the subterranean splendours of Stump Cross Caverns. Great houses, parks and gardens of worldwide renown include Ripley Castle, Rudding House and Newby Hall.

Other attractions within the Harrogate District include Fountains Abbey and Lightwater Valley Theme Park and just beyond its borders, yet well within reach of visitors, are such delights as Harewood House, Castle Howard, the City of York, Bronte Country ... the list is limited only by the time.

I hope you will agree that the programme has something for everyone, both in meeting your CPD requirements and in stimulating the mind. I look forward to welcoming you to Harrogate in the Autumn.

Juanita Pascual
Meetings Secretary