Dr Alasdair MacRae is a consultant geriatrician specialising in orthogeriatrics and Falls Reduction medicine and is also BGS Falls and Bone Health SIG Chair. Dr Lisa Alcock is a Senior Research Associate at the Translational and Clinical Research Institute at Newcastle University, leads the Gait Laboratory at the Clinical Ageing Research Unit and is BGS Falls and Bone Health SIG Secretary.
Following a video call with other Falls and Bone Health SIG committee members, we wanted to update you on what the SIG has been up to over the last year or so.
In September 2024, we were in Nottingham for the 25th Falls and Postural Stability Conference. That was a great meeting - if you were not there, you still have a few months to watch it on demand and claim CPD points for it (distance learning points and a CPD certificate will be issued).
Shortly after the conference, the fantastic James Frith stepped down as SIG chair. Those were big shoes to fill, so I decided to get a different pair!
We occasionally get asked permission to disseminate surveys for research purposes, and we hope that, if you have taken the time to complete them, you felt valued having helped shape knowledge about future falls management. Your voice is important. You can reach SIG members via the BGS Forum, and click here to find out how to join.
The SIG committee have been asked to endorse/comment on several pieces of Falls and Bone Health work, including the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Vertebral Fragility Fracture Pathway, GIRFT in adult orthopaedic trauma, FallSafe Falls bundle 2025, Royal Osteoporosis Society Fracture Liaison standards, and Fracture Liaison Service Database report. We also reviewed the draft NICE Falls Guidelines (NG249), which were published on 29 April 2025.
It will come as no surprise to learn that we have been working hard on the programme for the 26th Falls and Postural Stability Conference, which is taking place at the RCP Spine, Liverpool on 19 September 2025, and has come together nicely. The theme this year is bone health, and Lisa is going to give you an amuse bouche of what to expect when you attend.
Thanks Alasdair! This year's conference brings together a fantastic range of experts.
In the morning, we have two plenary sessions – the first focusing on osteoporosis management and implementing the NICE Falls guidelines, and the second covering frailty and fall risk, along with platform presentations of the best submitted abstracts.
Throughout the breaks, there will be a selection of posters presented electronically on large screens in the communal areas for review. We encourage all attendees to review the posters and pose questions to the authors using the Q&A function. Responses to questions will be considered when judging the competition for best poster, so the more questions, the better!
As is tradition, we have an exciting lineup of practical workshops to attend after the lunch break, including home-based fall risk assessments, implementation of fall prevention programmes, and deprescribing fall risk increasing drugs (FRIDs).
The conference will finish with a third plenary session exploring nutrition, bone health, and sarcopenia, before concluding by announcing the prize winners for best oral and poster presentation and some final reflections from our newly appointed chair, Alasdair!
Thank you, Lisa - I’m even more excited to attend now!
At our SIG committee meeting, we explored ways the SIG committee could be more visible to SIG members, especially at conferences. We also recognised that it has been a while since our SIG information page has been updated, and over the summer months (although it already feels like autumn in Scotland, judging by the horizontal rain I see out the window) we will endeavour to get relevant pieces of Falls and Bone Health work put on there, so you have up-to-date information to draw from.
We are always looking out for new SIG committee members (particularly if you work in the community or primary care, as an AHP, nurse or resident doctor). If you want to get involved or find out more, please contact Jo (j.gough@bgs.org.uk).
Falls Awareness Week is going to take place from 15-19 September 2025 (yes, our Falls conference is neatly falling into that week!). The theme of the week is “Putting Prevention into Practice”. Locally, Shona (our fantastic Hospital Falls Co-ordinator) and I are trying something a bit different this year by putting on an educational meeting which will be free to attend for all healthcare workers. There will be internationally renowned speakers and, equally importantly, local heroes who are passionate about improving the lives of others. There will be presentations and interactive workshops providing knowledge and insights, with a good bit of movement in between. You don’t need to organise an educational meeting to do your bit - you can do something in your ward, medical centre or clinic. It could be something simple like encouraging people to make sure that their glasses are clean - maybe ask a local optician if they’d be kind enough to provide supplies of cleaning wipes that you can give to people, everyone loves something free! Anything you do will help.
Finally, we want to remind you of some important deadlines:
- Abstract submission deadline for the 26th BGS Falls and Postural Stability Meeting is 17:00 (BST) on 13 June 2025
- Early bird discount (10% off) for the above meeting is 19th June 2025
- 3rd World Falls Congress will take place on 24-26 June 2026 in Manchester (this will be where to get your Annual Falls fix next year, as this is in place of our annual September meeting.
We really look forward to seeing you in Liverpool!
