Whilst on the subject of autumn meetings, the Society is obliged to wean itself off London as a venue for the Autumn Scientific Meeting. I would urge members to support the new venue. Harrogate has a great deal to offer, not least of which, a considerable saving on the venue costs that we pay to have our autumn meeting in London. Beyond geriatricians By pure coincidence, this issue of the Newsletter focuses on the growing links with our “non-geriatrician” colleagues - medical and other health professionals. With the framework for GPwSI’s-OP now being approved, it is important that we as geriatricians engage with our local PCTs to ensure that the benefits offered by integrating the GPwSI-OP initiative are fully exploited. The alternative to good communication and effective co-ordination is yet more fragmentation.

Still on the subject of our non-geriatrician colleagues, Dr Playfer and Dr MacMahon update us on the initiatives underway, to support the Society’s policy of fostering multi-disciplinary practice, as well as links with other professionals involved in the care of older people.

With all this activity around a cohesive, multi-strand approach to providing better services for our patients, I thought it appropriate to re-print a thought-provoking letter written in 1996 by Dr Keith Thompson, one of our most long-standing GP members, and sadly, no longer with us. It was again, pure coincidence, that the members whose letters re-open the Newsletter’s “Letters Page” are both GPs. I would encourage our GP members to write to me and become actively involved in contributing to the Newsletter. I would particularly ask them to let us know what issues they would like to be covered, not only in our publications but also, of course, at our scientific meetings.

Trainees
I have welcomed the greater contribution of trainees to recent issues of the Newsletter. Cath Church, current Chairman of the Trainees Group, is moving on to pastures new and I hope the trainees who take the reins from her and her Vice Chairman, Jugdeep, will continue to make the trainees’ voice heard in our Newsletter.

BGS cyberworld
The four national councils of the BGS now have their own websites. Each of the websites has adopted its own emphasis and I would ask you to check these websites regularly for updates and news on current issues. I would also ask members to use the sites to publicise meetings and training events in their locality. Vibrant websites are always attractive and it was interesting to hear at the interviews for our new chief executive, how much useful information candidates gleaned from the BGS sites in their preparation for the interviews.

BGS compendium documents
The BGS Policy Committee has been busy. A number of new compendium documents and one clinical guideline have been either published or are in the pipeline. We hope to publish an outline of these in our next issue, so watch this space!

Advance Directives
The matter of “living wills” seems to be enjoying renewed attention in the minds of both the public and politicians, with particular reference to artificial nutrition. It is my understanding that one of our members is about to undertake research into policies among the various geriatric services on the issue. Assuming she has secured the funding to carry out the survey, we hope to publish her results in the near future. In the mean time, I have summarised one of the current debates, as it appeared in the June issue of “Care Directions”.

In conclusion, I look forward to seeing you all at the Autumn meeting in London.

Kevin Kelleher
Editor