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The full 2008 BGS strategic review may be downloaded here.

The single most important initiative in the 2008 strategic review of the British Geriatrics Society is for us to break new ground and create an imaginative plan which will see geriatric medicine re-assert and enlarge its role in the community.

The Society has the opportunity to provide leadership to ensure geriatricians play a key role in community geriatrics and to emphasise the fundamental nature of this aspect of the specialty. There is plenty of material on the subject (our own “Interface between primary and secondary medical care in the new NHS in England…” is an example). However, we do not appear to have succeeded in pushing this all the way through to country-wide delivery.

By 2031, it is estimated that there will be 4.8 million people over the age of 80 and 2.5 million over the age of 85 (Office for National Statistics, summer 208). Whilst hospital based services will remain an important part of our service, we can expect bed closures to continue and our hospital base to shrink.

The main challenges for the BGS

• Community geriatric medicine already works in many places – it is nothing new; but the Society must be seen to be devising country wide cost-effective solutions which commissioners will buy into. We will have to create models that work in all four nations of the United Kingdom.
• We need to ensure more cohesive action between the key standing committees as well as the special interest groups and sections.
• We have to adopt a multi stakeholder, multi disciplinary approach from the outset without losing ourselves in the pile.
• We need to re-align our Regions within England, to be in step with Strategic Health Authority boundaries and those created by the Royal College of Physicians, at the same time finding local BGS members who will champion the specialty to commissioners

Central to dealing with these challenges is the profile of the British Geriatrics Society. Put simply, our specialty is sometimes under-recognised and under-valued. We have experienced several false starts when it comes to effectiveness in the arena of Press, PR and Parliamentary Affairs, but the time was right to expand the present Secretariat by recuiting a professional PR person to direct our thinking on this very important front. To this end, we have recruited Iona-Jane (see her introduction below) whose role will include:

• Achieving coverage in various media formats, and establishing links with key journalists;
• Helping us to influence politicians before policy is decided. (This will be a long term objective and may include the creation of a cross-party lobby group);
• Ensuring that the Society has notice of key decisions and the ability to prepare advance press notices;
• Raising the profile of the Society amongst the public while ensuring that our grass roots members are assisted in the role of making their voices heard - particularly with PCT commissioners;
• Raising amongst carefully targeted local populations, particularly older people and their carers, the importance of having geriatricians;
• Ensuring media training courses are sourced and completed by appropriate Society Officers;
• Expanding the existing base of links with charities and voluntary organisations; possibly hosting a reception at MWH as we have for the pharma industry;
• Producing executive summaries to the numerous consultation responses we produce – these to appear on the website;
• Producing reports on key scientific publications and articles (Age and Ageing, conferences, others)

This is an ambitious job specification and to achieve all these objectives will take time and require a good deal of support, not only from other members of the Secretariat, but also from key officers and grass roots members. We welcome Iona-Jane to the Society and wish her fortitude (and fair wind) in her role!

Alex Mair
Chief Executive Officer

BGS Newsletter, May 2009
Issue 21 ISSN 1748-6343 21