British Geriatrics Society

New BGS Officer Briefing Document

BRITISH GERIATRICS SOCIETY
New Officer Briefing Document


Background
There exists within England, a number of Regions which form an integral part of the legal entity of the Society and, as such, the Society is accountable in law for their conduct and financial affairs.  In consequence, the Regions shall conform to the requirements of the Society’s ruling body, the United Kingdom Management Committee (UKMC) and to England Council.  The Officers of the Society retain the right to intervene, where this becomes necessary, to protect the corporate interests of the Society and to ensure compliance with the law of each United Kingdom nation.  Article 48(E) of the Society’s Articles of Association refers (reproduced below).

48(E)    Each Regional Group shall consist of Members and Associate Members within a defined geographical area (which may be altered by the UK Management Committee).  Each Regional Group shall be governed by the provisions of its own constitution which shall provide, inter alia, that there shall be at least three elected officers (including a chairman and an honorary secretary) and a Committee of Management  (of which elected officers will be members ex officio) for the Regional Group.  

Membership
To participate in the activities of a Region a person must be a paid up member of the Society as defined in the Articles of Association, however the Society encourages the recruitment of new members and if non-members do wish to attend the meetings then they are welcome. If anyone wishes to join the Society they should be directed to our website link http://www.bgs.org.uk/Membership/membership-info.htm or they can contact the Membership Secretary on 0207 608 8574 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . On joining a new member is allocated a Region according to the location of their hospital, but may apply to be re-allocated if they move or if it is otherwise more convenient to belong to another Region.
Honorary Members and Associate Members may participate in the activities of a Region, but are not voting members of the Society and may not take office within a Region.  
Members are asked to keep the Membership Secretary at the BGS office, and if requested the Regional Secretary, informed of any changes of address, including the email address they can be reached at.  It is important that the Society holds accurate records as, apart from its own administration, it is often asked to assist in collating/verifying workforce statistics.  Where called upon Regional Officers are required to assist the BGS office in verifying membership details. 

Objectives

The Regions exist to:
·    Provide a forum to promote the medical care of older people and related issues
·    Offer peer support to members and their departments
·    Be an active medium in facilitating training for junior doctors and providing programmes of further education related to geriatric medicine.

Additionally, to liaise with regional deaneries and other medical training organisations to enhance and facilitate regional training in geriatric medicine
·    Be an active medium for the continued professional development of SAS doctors
·    Provide a forum for the presentation of research and the exchange of information
·    Make representation to the regional authorities on behalf of members and patients
·    Provide representatives and support to the England Council and feedback matters of regional concern
·    Provide a means of communication between UKMC, England Council and regional members
·    Provide a network of communication amongst regional members
·    Provide a forum for the discussion of Society business and for nominating England Council and UK Officers
·    Provide a link to retired members
·    Liaise with voluntary organisations
·    Provide advice to commissioners

The above is not intended to be comprehensive nor restrictive.  Naturally, the extent to which a Region can pursue all the objectives will be limited by available resources and constraints on member’s time.

Structure and composition
The size, location and composition of each Region shall be agreed by England Council and endorsed by UKMC from time to time.  The geography of the Region, the medical education structure, the administrative areas of the NHS and other authorities are factors which will influence the structure of a Region.

Regional Officers and management
It is for each Region to determine the number and role of its Officers, provided always that the minimum (as detailed above) is in place.
Other elected Officers in addition to the three minimum may be:
·    Deputy Chairman
·    Meetings Secretary
·    Treasurer
·    England Council representative
Where no members other than the elected Officers are appointed to the Committee of Management, then those Officers shall collectively form the Committee of Management.
In the event that the numbers of Officers falls below three, England Council must be informed and it shall be for them to decide how the Region is administered. 

Election of Officers
The Secretary shall notify regional members of positions falling vacant on the Committee at least one month before the region’s AGM and invite nominations. Where there is more than one candidate, members shall be elected by a ballot at the AGM; a transferable vote shall apply in the event of there being no clear majority.
Officers shall serve for three years and may then not be re-elected for a period of two years, except that, a junior officer may succeed a senior officer, e.g. the honorary secretary may on completion of office, be elected as chairman.
The appointment of an officer may be revoked by a resolution carried by a two-thirds majority of members present at a general meeting.

Responsibilities
The Committee of Management shall be responsible for the effective pursuit of the objectives within a Region and in particular to:
·    Ensure the concerns of Regional members related to the practice of geriatric medicine are being addressed
·    Provide a programme of medical education
·    Provide sufficient information to the Society’s accountant thereby ensuring that proper financial records are kept
·    Every calendar year hold an AGM

Meetings and CPD
It is likely, other than the AGM, that meetings will have an educational aspect as well as ordinary Regional business.  Where there is an educational element, regions may apply via the BGS office for official RCP accreditation.  

BGS Secretariat
Regions are reminded that they may call upon the secretariat for assistance with:
·    Applications for CPD accreditation
·    All aspects of financial management
·    Preparation of business plans where regions are considering more complex events
·    Obtaining up to date regional membership lists
·    Advice and assistance with regional websites
·    Draft job descriptions for Officer posts
·    Guidance and advice on running effective meetings (Notice and Agendas, Minutes, election procedures, resolutions etc.)
·    Press and PR support to obtain regional publicity of events, or to raise issues of local concern

A breakdown of the secretariat and their areas of responsibility can be found at: http://www.bgs.org.uk/About/contact.htm

BGS Committees

UKMC – (The Trustees) United Kingdom Management Committee. Comprises the officers and the Chairs of the Standing Committees and National Council plus the Trainee Chair and CPD Director.

The Standing Committees are: Academic & Research; Age and Ageing Editorial Board; Clinical Practice Evaluation Committee (CPEC); Finance; Education & Training and Policy.
Details of the current Chairs and their contact details can be found on the BGS web site.

BGS Special Interest Groups and Sections
Bladder & Bowel SIG; Cardiovascular Section; Cerebral Ageing & Mental Health SIG; Diabetes SIG; Drugs & Prescribing SIG; Falls & Bone Health SIG; Gastroenterology & Clinical Nutrition SIG; Medical Ethics SIG; Movement Disorders Section; Nurse Consultants SIG; Primary & Continuing Care SIG; Respiratory Section; Telecare & Telehealth SIG
BGS Leads

In addition to the Special Interest Groups and Sections the Society has identified a number of experts for areas where there is no SIG or Section.  A full list of these experts can be found here.

Communicating with your members
Communicating by e-mail is the quickest and easiest way of keeping your members informed.  However this relies on there being an up to date list.  The BGS office can provide a list of your members e-mail addresses and it would be helpful if updates that the region receives are fed back to the Membership Secretary.
Ensure SAS doctors in the Region are identified and included in e-mails. They  should be encouraged to join the BGS at the reduced rate for the grade.

In order to manage the list you may wish to consider:

·    Having a register at each meeting which includes members e-mail addresses.
·    Identifying an individual in each hospital in your region that you can e-mail and they can then disseminate to their colleagues.  This keeps the list more manageable and reduces the chances of your e-mail being blocked.
·    Attachments can also cause difficulties, so consider using the page set aside for your region on the BGS web site.  Details of your meetings can be posted there and then a simple text e-mail with the web page link can be sent out.
·    A notice detailing your meeting can also be included in the BGS newsletter.
·    Your Deanery will be able to provide a list of all your trainees.

Top Tips for Regional BGS Educational Meetings


·    Half day meetings preceded by lunch

·    Make the venue transport friendly

·    BGS business meeting immediately after lunch if a whole day meeting. Mid am or pm for a half day meeting

·    Keynote speaker (perhaps identified from National BGS meeting), or local falls, stroke continence etc experts

·    Involve specialist trainees in organising the meeting (can incorporate into CV)

·    Consider linking your meeting to the trainee training days

·    Ask specialist trainee to produce summary of meeting (key learning points) to disseminate to people unable to attend

·    Ensure SAS doctors are aware of meeting dates and facilitate them attending

·    Encourage SAS doctors to deliver presentations on their specialist areas

·    Promote local service initiatives and developments

·    Extend meetings to non-medical staff (e.g. specialist nurses, community matron, modern matrons)

·    Longish refreshment breaks to encourage networking

·    Use name badges to encourage conversations between people who don’t know each other

·    Plenty of notice is required (a minimum of 8 weeks but ideally longer) Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   to have a notice placed in the newsletter

·    Apply for your CPD Points early. The process will take three weeks in all.CPD points can be obtained by completing the accompanying form and returning it along with a programme (even if it is in draft form) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Please do not send any payment or apply directly to the College.

Glossary

Below are some of the terms that feature in BGS minutes and other documentation.  For definitions specific to education please see the glossary complied by the Joint Royal College of Physicians Training Board (JRCPTB) at:

A&R    Academic and Research Committee (BGS Standing Committee)
ACCEA    Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards
Age UK    New name for Help the Aged/Age Concern
AHP’s    Allied Health Professionals
AMRC    Academy of Medical Royal Colleges
BPG    Best Practice Guide (Series of BGS publications formerly known as the compendium).
BSRM    British Society for Rehabilitation Medicine
CESR    Certificate confirming Eligibility for Specialist Register
CPEC    Clinical Practice Evaluation Committee (BGS Standing Committee)
CQC    Care Quality Commission
ETC    Education and Training Committee (BGS Standing Committee)
EUGMS    European Union of Geriatric Medicine Society
GDG    Guideline Development Group
GPwSI    General Practitioners with a Special Interest (in Older People)
HtA/AC    Help the Aged/Age Concern
IAGG    International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics
JRCPTB    Joint Royal College of Physicians Training Board
MCA    Mental Capacity Act
MHA    Mental Health Act
MOU    Memorandum of Understanding
MSEVG    Medical Students Education and Vocational Grant
NCD    National Clinical Director
NCPC    National Council for Palliative Care
OPSF    Older People’s Specialists’ Forum (Multi-agency group which the BGS currently chairs)
PAM’s    Professionals Allied to Medicine
PMETB    Postgraduate Medical Education Training Board
QOF    Quality Outcome Framework
RCGP    Royal College of General Practitioners
RCPE    Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
RCPL     Royal College of Physicians of London
RCPSG    Royal College of Physicians  and Surgeons of Glasgow
RCPsych    Royal College of Psychiatrists
SAC    Specialty Advisory Committee (RCP London Committee)
SCE    Specialty Certificate Examination
UEMS    Union of European Medical Societies
UKMC    United Kingdom Management Committee (BGS Board of Trustees)
YDEG    Young Doctors Education Grant