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Prof George Adams
Graham Mulley and I presented the Founder’s Medal to George at his home in Oxfordshire on May 29. George was the second President of the BGS and he told us about his entry into the specialty. After the Second World War, he was sent by his boss in Belfast to undertake postgraduate training at the Hammersmith Hospital. Whilst in London he attended an evening lecture at Queen’s Square where he bumped into his friend Tom Wilson who told him about his interest in the health of older people and that he ought to go and see Trevor Howell. The rest is history – George became Professor of Geriatric Medicine in Belfast where he taught, undertook research, mainly on cerebrovascular disease, and devoted himself to developing the specialty. He was in good form as we told him about our current concerns which are not that much different from those in the 1950s and 1960s! A good day out for us.

Brazil
I visited Porto Alegre to talk at the Brazilian Geriatrics and Gerontology Congress. Two thousand or so delegates attended. The Conference was held at the Pontifical University with the opening ceremony in the Cathedral. My host was Renato Maia, President of IAGG and we talked about how IAGG and EUGMS might work closer together.

KBA
Progress and “high feeling” are dealt with elsewhere in this newsletter. I won’t belabour the point!

Specialist Societies
The Specialist Societies have met and been in regular contact to discuss matters relating to KBA. There is obvious frustration at the way this matter has been dealt with by the Federation of Royal Colleges. Further meetings are planned to discuss other specialty related issues. There is already a Medical Specialty Board within the RCP (London). The question of whether to establish an alternative is at the moment only theoretical but there may be a push to do so if the KBA question remains unresolved.

British Orthopaedic Association
I met with Prof David Marsh, Finbarr Martin and their Chief Executive to discuss further work. Work is continuing on securing funding for the future of the hip fracture audit project, the development of new osteoporosis guidelines and the DH initiative on falls prevention. We will also be involved in the fracture prevention work.

David Behan and a Possible New National Director
Following meetings with Ministers Lewis and Darzi we met with David Behan, Director General of Social Care at the Department of Health (DH). Mental health and older people sit within his portfolio. We discussed a broad range of issues ranging from age discrimination to relationships between old age psychiatry and geriatric medicine. He asked us for our views on a replacement for Ian Philp. I told him that we supported a replacement, that the post-holder should work alongside the other National Clinical Directors and needed to ensure that older people’s interests were included at all relevant levels within the Department as well as facing outwards to the providers and commissioners in the NHS.

Integrated Healthcare
UKMC members will recall the position paper which we signed with the RCGP calling for the development of integrated services between Primary and Secondary Care. This approach has caught on with many other specialties and a report was issued by RCP(L)/RCGP/ RCPCH (Hospital without Walls). Work on this is continuing. The next step is for the Society to produce detailed plans of what an integrated service might look like in practice. One area we will have to come to terms with is the issue of patient choice when services are provided by different organisations including, in England at least, some from within the private sector.

Joint Specialty Committee Geriatrics RCP London
I have handed the Chair of this Committee over to Graham Mulley. Hopefully this will ease the transition for our next President.

Clinical Excellence Awards
Those who are considering applying for a clinical excellence award should keep an eye on the web, seek advice from sour Regional Advisors and find out now how their local Trust is to handle things. The role of the Society in applications from members in Northern Ireland and Scotland is different but again, members from these countries should seek advice locally.

Age and Ageing Specialty Group
The National Institute for Health Research is establishing an Age and Ageing Specialty Group which will advise on research priorities in this area. This is one of a number of groups established to cover the subjects not covered by the other networks. I have been asked to sit on the selection panel for the chair. Many of the members of the Group are BGS members and collaborative arrangements will need to be developed between it and our Academic and Research Committee

Congratulations to Peter Passmore and Julia Newton, newly appointed professors. We have more geriatricians with the title of Professor than ever before working in traditional roles as well as in a diverse range of other roles.

Have a good summer!
Peter Crome

BGS Newsletter, Aug 2008
Issue 17 ISSN 1748-6343 17