Nominations sought for Chair of the Primary and Continuing Care SIG

The Primary and Continuing Care SIG plays an important part in shaping BGS policy and championing community geriatrics.  SIG members work in primary care settings, in continuing care and in the newer interstices between primary and secondary care, such as intermediate care, interface geriatrics and other domains of community geriatrics.

Members of the SIG represent the BGS at numerous national consultation exercises and meetings.  The wider SIG membership regularly responds, by email, to requests from the BGS for information and advice to inform the Society’s response to various external enquiries.   In recent years the SIG has run successful parallel sessions at BGS meetings on intermediate care and care home medicine and has developed resources which are available on the BGS website.  For example, it held a meeting on the geriatrician’s role in chronic disease management, which led to a BGS compendium paper; and a meeting with the Royal College of GPs and consultant nurses which led to a jointly authored compendium paper on the role of the interface between the GP and geriatrician in the community.

Following the decision by UKMC to focus on the care home sector, the SIG has made important contributions to work being undertaken by the BGS to improve care home residents’ access to healthcare.  It is also supporting the development of a national audit of intermediate care.  Exciting times lie ahead for the SIG, as momentum will continue to gather with regard to both these areas of BGS activity.  The SIG will also continue to be an important means of sharing information between professionals working in different community care settings and should be a natural point of contact and source of support for the growing number of community geriatricians.

Currently the SIG is co-chaired by Ian Donald and John Gladman: Ian has recently taken over as Chair of the Policy Committee; and John Gladman is seeking new challenges.  This presents an opportunity for other BGS members to step forwards and get involved in leading the work of the SIG.  Nominations for the position of Chair and/or expressions of interest in forming part of a Committee of Management for the SIG should be sent to Alex Mair via email. The closing date for nominations is Wednesday 31st March 2010. A co-chairing arrangement would be possible.

An AGM of the SIG will be held during the BGS Spring Meeting in Edinburgh (22 – 24 April) and those present at the AGM will vote on the nominations received for Chair. The AGM will also present an opportunity to revisit the name of the SIG.  In particular, the suggestion that it should be changed to the simpler and more inclusive name, ‘Community Practice SIG’, to reflect the variety of work undertaken by members.  This will be voted on at the AGM and, if agreed, the name change will then be presented to UKMC for ratification.

For more information about the work of the SIG and what the position of chair involves, please contact Alex Mair.