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This will be a challenging year for the care of old people. After the general election there will be perhaps hundreds of new MPs at Westminster, many of whom will not be well versed in elderly care.

The financial freeze will hit hard: there will be threats to services and staff, with challenges for the ways in which we work. As Geriatricians, we are used to working in difficult circumstances. We must expect more bed closures, more work in the community, reductions in staffing levels and much more emphasis on prevention, quality and efficient working. We can learn much from each other by sharing ideas for good practice and by learning how we are all responding to the lean years ahead.

BGS Manifesto
In order to ensure that Parliamentarians are better informed about what the BGS is and what we do, Iona-Jane Harris is preparing a short manifesto which will be sent to all political candidates. This will feature in the newsletter. In 2010 we will be extending our involvement with MPs and will keep you updated on developments.

Care Homes
We are making prevention and Care Home medicine our two main current priorities. The Policy Committee is working on ideas for improving preventative care and Ian Donaldson is co-coordinating these initiatives.

Care homes continue to be in the news. The Care Quality Commission recently published “The quality and capacity of adult social care agencies” (www.cqc.org.uk/newsandevents/ newsstories). It provoked a journalistic storm: The Times thundered about thousands being condemned to live in squalid conditions. The Guardian spoke of this “shocking... scandalous... disgraceful report”. No newspaper picked out the many positive developments: the year on year improvement in care home standards; the facts that 17 per cent of homes are rated as excellent and 60 per cent as good; that 67 per cent met or exceeded standards; that the number of “adequate” homes fell from 25 per cent to 17 per cent. There have been major improvements in record-keeping, medications and staff supervision. There is much more to be done but we owe it to our colleagues who work hard in residential and nursing homes to champion their many successes.

Society Guardian
A national conference sponsored by the Guardian newspaper provided the opportunity for me to gently castigate the press for lazy journalism and the relentless re-enforcing of stereotypes. I was able to emphasise some of the many improvements in care homes and gave examples of exemplary practice. The day before the meeting, Gerry Robinson’s first television programme on dementia care was broadcast. He described a broken system, with demoralised staff working long hours for poor pay. He underlined the lack of training and pointed out the staff in dementia care homes are not valued and are often ignored. As more geriatricians become involved in nursing home medicine, these deficiencies should be mitigated – particularly if we can help improve training. There are lessons to be learned from hospices, which enjoy highly positive attitudes from the press and the general public. I am sure that we can help ensure that those in their twilight years can enjoy uniformly high standards of care – and that the media will celebrate stories of outstanding care and facilities

This conference also gave opportunities for people to be aware of the existence, role, commitment and enthusiasm of the BGS. David Oliver spoke with style and conviction on age discrimination in research funding, denial of diagnostic work-ups and sub-optimal treatments. Des O’Neill (in his capacity as President-elect of EUGMS) lectured with his usual élan about embracing complexity, celebrating the demographic dividend and exhorting societies to avoid the temptation to impose simplistic solutions (which are invariably wrong) on the ageing population.

The Secretary of State for Social Services, Phil Hope, emphasised the key importance of prevention, support for carers, integrated working and the training of the social care workforce – all of which harmonise with the values and aims of the BGS.

South Asian Geriatricians
It was gratifying to see the Independent newspaper paying tribute to the pioneering work of doctors from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Burma in improving the care of old people in the UK. In a project supported by the BGS and the British Association of Physicians of Asian Origin, the Open University (OU) has produced an oral history project, which is now in the British Library archive.

In the early 1970s, 60 per cent of consultant geriatric posts were filled by overseas doctors. By their dedication and determination these doctors helped to transform the care of elderly people, who were previously considered as second class citizens. At that time, many UK graduates had little enthusiasm for a career in geriatric medicine – how things have changed! We are greatly indebted to our Asian colleagues.

One of the outstanding pioneers was Babi Das Gupta, who developed an astonishingly successful unit at Scunthorpe General Hospital. In the Scunthorpe Telegraph, he explained how he was attracted by his grandfather’s philosophy of looking after all people equally – the battle against ageism has not yet been won but we salute the enormous contribution made by our South Asian colleagues. (For a full copy of the OU report, contact Lauren Hardy on 01908 655 614; to learn more about this project visit www.open.ac.uk/hsc/research/.../germed).

BGS Intelligence
It would be useful to have a repository of statistics on ageing and elderly care. Such a resource should be easily accessible on line and be helpful to clinicians, researchers and journalists, who could then quickly find all the information they need. Such a site would also further heighten the profile of the BGS among the general public.

The data would come from multiple sources. I only recently discovered the NHS Information Centre, which has some useful information on elderly care, and the US-based John A Hartford Foundation, which provides instructive charts, graphs census information and links to other databases.

If you are interested in helping to set up and develop this new BGS resource, do get in touch.

Adieu and welcome
We are sorry that Sarah Allport, our Committees Secretary, has left us. She has taken up a new role at the Dunhill Foundation after nearly five years at the BGS. The huge numbers of thank you messages from many BGS members testify to the high regard in which she is held. She worked tirelessly and efficiently, was unfailingly cheerful and made life much easier for me and many others. Her work on distinction awards and promoting the Society has been greatly appreciated. We wish her well in her new post.

Mark Stewart joined the BGS as our Committee Secretary in the new year. Coming from a background of professional associations, he is well versed in the dynamics of committees. I am sure you all join me in welcoming him to the ranks of Marjory Warren House and in wishing him a long and satisfying sojourn with us.

Graham Mulley

BGS Newsletter, February 2010
Issue 25 ISSN 1748-634000 25