Welcome to our new BGS officers!

I am a Consultant in Geriatric Medicine at Whittington Health NHS Trust.

The last two years have been incredibly challenging for the whole MDT workforce, but I feel there is no better time for the British Geriatrics Society to be increasing its profile, impact, influence, and most importantly relevance to its members. My main priority is for the Society to continue to connect with its members as they navigate the highs and lows of working in the NHS. Despite the intensity of working through the pandemic, I still love the privilege and challenge of being a geriatrician and I hope I can use this role to help restore some of the joy to our specialty.

Take the opportunity to connect in whatever way you can! There are opportunities advertised every month in the e-bulletin and plenty happening over on Twitter too. Attend a conference or regional meeting. Look through some of our excellent policy documents. Most importantly - tell us what you think and what matters to you.

I am Lead Nurse for Quality Improvement and Standards at Western General Hospital Edinburgh, NHS Lothian. I have had the privilege to serve NHS Lothian for nineteen years. I have held the position of Frailty Nurse Specialist in both the medical and surgical directorate, then most recently as Integrated Discharge Hub Manager in the Western General Hospital Edinburgh performing a key link between acute care and the wide range of community services by our ongoing collaboration with the Health and Social Care Partnership.

Throughout my journey my passion and goal has been delivering high-quality person-centred care for the older population, with a key role to influence and engage all levels to drive and improve health care for older adults. I am very proud to have been elected this year for the position of Deputy Chair of the Nurses and AHPs Council. Our social care system remains under continuous strain and pressure therefore my focus will be to continue to explore ongoing collaboration work between acute and community which are essential and necessary, with our community services given the same prioritisation, aiming to reduce unnecessary prolonged stays in hospital for our older population.

In my new role I wish to reach out to all nurses and AHPs who have a passion for improving care for older people and promote the benefits of being part of the BGS. It’s fantastic to have representation from Scotland and I’m looking forward to supporting Dr Esther Clift as Chair.

I’m a Consultant Geriatrician at University Hospital Crosshouse, NHS Ayrshire and Arran. I’m also Clinical Lead for Frailty and Co-ordinated Care. I have a keen interest in contributing to, and bettering the care of older and frail people as close to their home as possible. My main base at present is within the front door Combined Assessment Unit leading our multi-disciplinary Frailty Team. I will be contributing my skills to our Hospital at Home service which we have piloted and will launch in 2022. My other interest is in peri-operative medicine. Together with our anaesthetic peri-operative lead, we have built a new service targeting comprehensive geriatric assessment to older people living with frailty who are in need of a an elective surgical procedure. It’s early days for us and a growing service. We are hopeful to demonstrate improved outcomes, but more importantly, how realistic medicine principles and having the patient voice front and centre can improve the journeys through complex care for our Ayrshire people.

The BGS in Scotland needs to hear the voices of those who can advocate for better care of our older people. As we see further integration between primary and secondary care, community and acute, and importantly, social care both at home and in care homes, it’s important we aim to include as many keen individuals as we can.

Our Scotland Council aims to represent all of our multi-disciplinary colleagues. We would love to hear from you. You can reach me on Twitter @rowan_wallace