The annual BGS Trainees’ Educational and Social Weekend.

• Sat 1st – Sun 2nd February 2014
• Alumni Auditorium, The Forum, University of Exeter 
• £45 for BGS members (£90 for non-members). Evening meal £25.
• For more details and to book click here

The annual essential weekend for all trainees in geriatrics! Organised by trainees for trainees – building on the successes and feedback from previous years, we are aiming to offer something for all trainees, whatever your stage of training.

British Geriatrics Society Scientific meeting: Day 3

This week sees the 2013 BGS Autumn Scientific Meeting take place in Harrogate. This international multi-disciplinary conference is for professionals concerned with the the health and care of older people. We will be presenting a packed scientific programme, with updates on a variety of clinical topics covering several special interests.

The third day of our conference opens with two parallel sessions (9.00-10.30):

• Session Q: Bereavement: Beginning with Prof David Jolley (University of Manchester) on psychiatric disorders after bereavement. Next is Mr Alan Casseden (Cruse Bereavement Care) on who will be encouraging attendees to reflect on their own death. Finally Dr Peter Dean (Coroners Office) describes changes in the coroner’s jurisdiction.
• Session R: Care Homes: Dr Clive Bowman (City University, London) begins with a presentation entitled: “Care Home Medicine: Outside the box but not at large.” Dr Adam Gordon (Nottingham) will discusses “Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment in care homes”, and Ms Julie Whitney (Kings College Hospital) will speak about on falls prevention in Care Homes.

British Geriatrics Society Scientific meeting: Day 2

This week sees the 2013 BGS Autumn Scientific Meeting take place in Harrogate. This international multi-disciplinary conference is for professionals concerned with the the health and care of older people. We will be presenting a packed scientific programme, with updates on a variety of clinical topics covering several special interests.

The second day of our conference opens at 9.00 with the President’s Welcome Address, followed by an update on the BGS response to the Francis Report.

Session G (9.20-10.30) is dedicated to Syncope beginning with Prof Roseanne Kenny (Trinity College Dublin) on the assessment of the older patient with syncope, followed by Dr Michael Norton (South of Tyne and Wear) who will be discussing when a cardiologist should see an older patient with syncope?

British Geriatrics Society Scientific meeting: Day 1

This week sees the 2013 BGS Autumn Scientific Meeting take place in Harrogate. This international, multi-disciplinary conference is for professionals concerned with the the health and care of older people. We will be presenting a packed scientific programme, with updates on a variety of clinical topics covering several special interests.

This year the meeting is preceded by a conference on Managing Complexity in Older People within the Community organised by the Community Geriatrics Special Interest Group. This conference will address how healthcare professionals, working together, can best aim to reduce admissions/re-admissions into hospital by ensuring that older patients receive adequate and appropriate preventative and interventionist care within the community. Presentations included:

• Anticipatory Care Planning in Care Homes –  by Rebecca Bancroft
• Care Home Commissioning Day – by Elizabeth Kendrick
• Commissioning for Outcomes: A Care Home Perspective – by Martin Green
• End of Life Care in Nursing Homes in North Tyneside – by Kathyryn Hall
• The Gold Standards Framework in Care Homes Programme – Keri Thomas

Preventing and stopping abuse

Mary Cox, Safeguarding Advisor for Age UK will be speaking at the British Geriatrics Society Autumn conference in November 2013.  Her work involves helping older people, their family, carers, and professionals to prevent and stop abuse.  Her presentation will include narratives that demonstrate the dilemmas of speaking out about abuse and the impact harm has on people’s lives.

Adults suffer abuse when their human or civil rights are breached. The absolute human right ‘not to be tortured or treated in an inhuman or degrading way’ should be promoted by us all and be reflected in the quality of the services we provide.   It is Important that we enable people to have control over their own lives, treat them with dignity, support them to have the best physical and mental health possible, and facilitate their financial security.

When I was a young ‘un – The changing professional life of the geriatrician

A conference report from the BGS Spring Meeting in Belfast, by Liz Gill.

The changing professional life of the doctor was also the subject of a session on medical education which looked at how modern methods have replaced those of a generation ago. As Dr Rick Plumb, clinical senior lecturer at Queens University in Belfast, put it “The main difference between now and my student days in the early 90s is that there is no point rote learning ten facts when you can access the best information instantly. In the old days learning about morphine, say, would typically involve looking at not very inspiring didactic slides. Now learning is active with built in bookmarks and links.”

Chronic disease begins in childhood

A conference report from the BGS Spring Meeting in Belfast, by Liz Gill.

Research is increasingly suggesting that old age is influenced by conditions and events in early life, a concept supported by data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, TILDA, which has studied 8,500 people aged 50 and over for the past ten years. Opening a special session on the last morning of the conference, its principal investigator Prof Rose-Anne Kenny of Trinity College Dublin, described the process. Participants were given an initial comprehensive assessment which included physical health, cognition, psychology, behaviour, family background and use of health care. They were then revisited every two years providing a rich set of data involving almost one in every 140 people in Ireland.

Old and still driving

A conference report from the BGS Spring Meeting in Belfast, by Liz Gill.

One of the most negative images of older people concerns older drivers. Yet by any yardstick they are the safest group on the roads, as Prof Des O’Neill, consultant physician in geriatric and stroke medicine at Adelaide and Meath Hospital in Dublin, pointed out. There were issues though with increasing age and it was worth geriatricians getting involved with assessing someone’s fitness to drive.

The social and economic contribution of our elders

A conference report from the BGS Spring Meeting in Belfast, by Liz Gill.

Another look at the future came from Claire Keating, commissioner for older people in Northern Ireland. “Shed loads of people are having increased longevity and that is a challenge but no-one becomes 80 overnight so it’s a case of planning. And current projections are not set in stone. For instance, we need to treat older people who have bowel cancer now but we also need to get their grandchildren to eat more vegetables so that there aren’t unacceptable levels when they get to that age.

“We get obsessed with money and the pessimistic outlook gets more attention. Yet the latest research shows that when you add up all economic and social contributions and all the taxes and voluntary work, older people make a net contribution to society of £40bn.

Cyber-care – The benefits and drawbacks of new technology

A conference report from the BGS Spring Meeting in Belfast, by Liz Gill.

The benefits – and some drawbacks – of new technology was the subject of the BGS Special Interest Group for Telecare and Telehealth where Dr Frank Miskelly, consultant physician at Imperial College London, had this key message for his audience. “The secret is to look at the problem and then ask how you can use technology to solve it.  Too often you get companies who want to sell you some kit saying ‘we’ve got the solution, can you now find the problem?’”