In this letter I discuss two matters which were debated at recent meetings of the Executive and Council. Both of these are of interest to members and I would be happy to receive your views.

Aberdeen
Before dealing with my two main themes, I want to mention the most attractive programme put together by the organisers of the Aberdeen Meeting. Aberdeen is an interesting and hospitable city and I hope to see as many as possible of you there in April.

The Name of the Society
Both the Past President and the Honorary Secretary wrote about the name of the Society in the last edition of the Newsletter and suggested that we should consider a change of name. They made the point that the word ‘geriatrics’ is viewed in some quarters in a rather negative way and this may be reflected in some people’s attitudes to our Society. Hence the desire to look at alternative names.

It is important to remember that as recently as 1998 the name of the Society was carefully considered, and a referendum of members was held. While this produced a majority in favour of a change of name, there was no consensus on an alternative name, and it was therefore decided to continue with the present name. The Executive and Council took the view that it was not good for the Society to appear to be preoccupied with its name. It might suggest a lack of self confidence and even lead to ridicule. They did not wish to consider a change so soon again and I would suggest that at least a decade should elapse between consideration of changes of name. There are other points in favour of continuing with the present name. The name ‘British Geriatrics Society’ has a long and distinguished history and the Society is held in high regard. It is similar to the name of most of the national societies worldwide. Whatever negative connotations were attached to the word ‘geriatrics’ seem to have reached a peak five to ten years ago and are much less prominent today. This is because our speciality has a high reputation built by the efforts of members of the Society.

The term ‘geriatrics’ was devised by Ignatz Leo Nascher (1863-1944), an American physician. In 1909 he created a special branch of medicine which he called ‘Geriatrics’, derived from two Greek words - geras (old age) and iatricos (relating to the physician). Much of the negative connotations come from misuse of the word to describe an older person as ‘geriatric’ or, even worse, ‘a geriatric’. This is not only insulting and demeaning, but is etymologically meaningless.

Our reputation derives from our actions, not from our name. Our reputation is high in the medical world, and always has been high in the lay world. Our task is to further enhance that reputation and the esteem of the Society. For decades members of the Society have been warning the Government and the public of the implications of our ageing population. Little notice has been paid to us but the recent problems with pensions have suddenly thrust this issue into the limelight. We should take this opportunity to make it widely known that older people will need not only pensions but also high quality health and social care, something that the specialty of geriatric medicine has been endeavouring to deliver for over half a century.

The Executive also felt that, as we are a Society devoted to the problems of old age, it is particularly important that we are a modern organisation. We will be looking at our corporate image, including our publications and letterhead, and will be adopting the most modern methods of electronic communication. This is the subject of my second topic.

An eNewsletter
The Newsletter is one of our most successful and popular activities and it is widely welcomed and read by members. It is an attractive production and credit goes to successive Honorary Secretaries who act as editors, and to those in the office who produce it. It is, however, expensive. The Society spends about £20,000 per year on the printing and postage of the Newsletter. Until recently this was covered by sponsorship. Sponsorship of all types is becoming much more difficult to obtain. This is because of the economic climate, the fact that following mergers there are fewer pharmaceutical companies, and the flow of new drugs from the pharmaceutical industry is decreasing rapidly. The cost of the Newsletter is now borne entirely by the Society. For exactly the same reasons the Society’s finances are under pressure. We are in balance now but there is no room for complacency and we must make all savings that we can.

Substantial savings would be made if the Newsletter were to be available only in electronic format. The process would be that members would receive an email to indicate that the Newsletter has been published and a password that would lead them to a special section of the Society’s website. The Newsletter would be on the web in full colour, and of course could be downloaded and printed as members wished. An electronic Newsletter would be more up to date and could contain more pages and hence more information than the printed version.

All editions of the Newsletter from March 1999 to the current issue are on the BGS website and I encourage you to look at them. A number of societies already use such a system, including the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and many government documents are now available only in electronic format. As I have mentioned the savings would be considerable and if these savings are not made, the costs will continue to have to be borne by members’ subscriptions. A decision to move to an electronic Newsletter has not yet been made but Executive and Council have decided to look into this and to seek members’ views. I would encourage you to let us know what you feel about this suggestion. I would urge you to visit and register on the discussion forum on www.bgsnet.org.uk to let me know your views.

Au Revoir in Aberdeen ...
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at Aberdeen in April. You may wish to use the opportunity to discuss one or both of these issues with me then.

Bob Stout
President