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This being my first column as BGS President, I was torn between beginning by acknowledging the great contribution made by my predecessor to the Society, or demonstrating my understanding of man’s innate self-interest.

I decided to do the latter and so leave the comments I wish to make about Jerry and the other outgoing officers until we have got our self-interest out of the way!

Clinical Excellence Awards in England and Wales
The 2007 round is now underway and members in England and Wales have until January to send in their applications. The BGS nominates directly for levels 9-11, and via the RCP London for level 12. At the last moment, ACCEA required all nominating societies to include lay representation in their decision making processes. I asked Candida Richards and Richard Dawson, the two lay members of the Geriatrics Committee of the London College to join us and I am grateful to them for agreeing to do this. Further changes are that we have to have a non-award holder on our panel and that colleagues who work in the same hospital as applicants can no longer provide citations. Again, thank you to those who provided citations, especially those who were not expecting to do so. I was a little disappointed that fewer members than I would have hoped, applied for a BGS nomination. You do need to apply to get one! I am intending to hold a Question and Answer session on awards at the next Spring Conference.

..and in Northern Ireland
For the first time the BGS was asked for views on applicants for awards in Northern Ireland. They have a slightly different scheme. The BGS is asked to comment on the application rather than write a separate citation. Congratulations to Bob Stout, our former President, who is now the Medical Director of the scheme there.

Jerry Playfer
That bit of business out of the way, I can reiterate my first task as the newly-installed President at the AGM when I said a few words in praise of Jerry. All Presidents bring their own style to the office and so it was with Jerry. Under his Presidency we have seen the Society flourish and its influence increase. I would like to mention just some of these recent achievements. The administrative headquarters of the European Union of Geriatric Medicine Societies is now based in Marjory Warren House, thus ensuring that not only will the organisation be well managed, but that our voice will be heard in Europe. Our non-medical membership has grown and one of Jerry’s achievements was to incorporate the Nurse Consultants Group into the BGS as a SIG. They will have their own session at the Brighton meeting in April 2007. Meetings with the Department of Health in England are now taking place on a regular base and are also attended by representatives of other health care professions. At the RCP in London, new arrangements ensure that the BGS officers have regular face to face meetings with College officers and that the BGS has a seat on the College Council. Our partnership work with other organisations continues to grow with campaigns on dignity, mental health issues and drug treatment in older people being launched. The BGS logo is now appearing on educational and other publicity material. Guidelines on delirium have been produced and clinical research fellowships funded.

These are all major achievements which would not have been possible without Jerry’s direct involvement and supportive encouragement of others. The latter is typical of the man. He has presided over the affairs of the BGS and the UKMC in an open, honest, friendly and self-effacing manner. He has always been ready to acknowledge the contributions of others even when he has been the inspiring driver for change. He is of course, passionate about his profession and his specialty and this comes out in his presentations and writings. He has mentioned several times, the need to encourage younger members of the Society and to develop a cadre of future leaders. He has a wonderful way with younger people and he has been awarded the greatest accolade of all from the Crome household - that he has all the right qualities to be a psychiatrist! Jerry announced at the Harrogate meeting that he will be retiring in the New Year after many years as a consultant in Liverpool. We wish him and his Liz a long, happy and healthy retirement. To quote the (unofficial) new motto of the BGS bis hundert und zwanzig (may you live to be 120)!

Margot Gosney and Juanita Pascual
I would also like to thank Margot and Juanita who are leaving their respective posts of Treasurer and Meetings Secretary. They have both excelled in their respective roles and have contributed enormously to the Society’s development. We are lucky to have people of their calibre in the organisation.

Sri Lanka
At the end of September, Jerry and I visited Sri Lanka as guests of the Ceylon College of Physicians at their Annual Scientific Sessions. We enjoyed wonderful hospitality including dinner at a beach-side restaurant. Amongst other speakers from the UK was Ian Gilmore who hosted a lunch for members and fellows at the College. To become a specialist in Sri Lanka one needs at least one year’s training outside of the country, so there was a lot of concern about the impact of the change in the UK’s rules for employing international medical graduates.

Good Doctors, Safer Patients
Just before the summer break the Chief Medical Officer for England, Sir Liam Donaldson launched his consultation document on the regulation of doctors. The BGS is now engaged in responding to the document which it will do in conjunction with the RCP London. The report has numerous recommendations, many of which will need legislation before they can be introduced. The proposals which will have most relevance to BGS members are those relating to continuation of GMC registration. Donaldson proposes a two-level approach - re-validation which will apply to all doctors and re-certification which will apply to specialists and which will be necessary to remain on the specialist register. Re-validation will be a local process requiring annual appraisal, CPD and other assessment such as multi-source feedback. The re-certification of specialist status will be a more sophisticated process and will require a statement of positive assurance. The Colleges and Societies will have a key role in determining the standards for consultant practice and for assessment of that practice. The precise components of this have not been determined and will have to be developed over the next couple of years. Satisfactory performance in national audits and formal confirmation of continued knowledge will be required. This could mean re-taking a specialist examination such as those proposed for Specialist Registrars but this is by no means certain. Whatever methods are introduced have to have the support of the profession and should ideally be developmental, with appropriate support provided when necessary. Members will be kept informed on a regular basis about the consultation and its consequences.

Harrogate 2006
I always enjoy our conferences and the last meeting in Harrogate is no exception. It was good to welcome my old friend Colin Powell, now based in Calgary, who gave us a wonderful Marjory Warren Lecture, and Cillian Twomey from Cork, who delivered the Trevor Howell Lecture. We were treated to a typically forceful erudite exposition from Ray Tallis who gave a masterful defence of the professionalism of the medical profession and the “need to re-assert the authority of the medical profession and their leadership”, a task to which I am committed. We wish him well in his new life as a full-time writer and guru but I did note that in his speech he described himself as a clinician. I am also grateful to Ray for teaching me a new word, ‘liana’ meaning a climbing plant. It just so happens to be anagram of my wife’s name Ilana. Was this a deliberate plant!

It is always difficult for conference planners to come up with a format that pleases everyone all of the time and feedback is always welcome as we try and improve the quality of the meetings. The Cromes were able to leave with the car full of goodies from Betty’s. I hope to see as many of you as possible in April next year in Brighton but I expect we will be leaving the rock behind.

Lay Representation
It is clear that the BGS is lagging behind other specialist Societies in involving lay people in our policy making procedures. Other Societies have lay members on their councils or their equivalents of our Policy Committee, or have lay panels with which to engage in dialogue. I have asked our Policy Committee to produce plans to deal with this.

British Council for Ageing
The BCA was launched at the House of Lords on October 12. I, together with Chris Phillipson of the BSG and Janet Lord of the BSRA, spoke about the need to improve the status and funding of research into ageing and to make it a Government priority. The BCA launch is reported on page 25.

Communication communication communication
One thing I hear frequently from our members is: “I did not know about that”. We try to make the Newsletter, which is our main vehicle for communicating with the wider membership, as informative as possible. It is not expected that everybody reads the publication word for word, but by scanning the pages and regularly visiting the BGS website where we post notices and other information, members can expect to pick up most of the important developments, both within our Society and in geriatrics generally.

Finally, could I thank you once again for electing me as your President. I am looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible at our regional and national meetings. This is the last newsletter of 2006 and I would like to take the opportunity to express season’s greetings to all members and to wish you the very best for 2007.

Peter Crome