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The Spring 2009 BGS Meeting in Bournemouth is fast approaching. For those of you waivering as to whether to come or not, here are some good reasons not to miss out.

1. A European flavour to the meeting. The Clinical section of the European region of the IAGG and the European Union Geriatric Medicine Society are organising a symposium on dementia. Several prominent European speakers will be presenting.

2. Professors Chakravarthi Rajkumar, John Gladman and Stuart Parker will be updating us on their work in the “Meet the Professors session”.

3. The meeting has clinical updates on the Older surgical patient, Gastroenterology, Cardiology and Orthogeriatrics

4. Professor Allan McLean from Notre Dame University, Australia will be speaking about the ageing process.

5. Baroness Young of Old Scone, shadow chair of the Care Quality Commission will be speaking about “Maintaining Quality in the NHS”
6. The meeting concludes with a symposium on “increasing treatment opportunities for elderly diabetic patients”. Well known speakers including David Kerr, Alan Sinclair, Simon Croxson and Gillian Hawthorne will speak about various aspects of managing elderly diabetic patients.

7. The BGS fellowships are a recent development led by the society. Work stemming from these fellowships will be presented in a dedicated session. This is in addition to the usual scientific presentations

8. We are organising three workshops. The Mental Capacity Act 2 years on will be discussed and illustrated with a number of case discussions. Developing Re-enablement services at home is another topic and the Nurses Special Interest Group will also be organising a workshop.

9. Two of the most popular Special Interest Groups i.e. Ethics and Cardiovascular will be presenting a programme. The ethics SIG will be discussing the use of restraint in falls prevention.

10. Participate in a debate with the motion “Complementary medicine should be used more widely in the NHS”.

11. David Gunson is the after dinner speaker at the conference dinner. David is a previous winner of the American Express speaker of the year award and a retired air traffic controller, having worked in Birmingham airport for 22 years. Certainly not to be missed.

12. Have a break! Bournemouth is a lovely town and the conference centre is set by the sea, ideal for a leisurely stroll or, weather permitting, a boat trip from the pier. Alternatively consider visiting some of the beauty spots surrounding Bournemouth. Christchurch is a small historic town bordering Bournemouth with a priory and gardens. If you feel like a country walk visit Old Harry Rocks which marks the eastern end of England’s world heritage “Jurassic Coast line “

On behalf of the organising committee I hope that you will be able to make it and look forward to welcoming you at the 2009 BGS Spring meeting.

Michael Vassallo
Chairman - Local Organising Committee

BGS Newsletter, March 2009
Issue 20 ISSN 1748-6343 20