Midlands

Our Region Co-Chairs share an update every quarter, highlighting key developments, successes, and priorities from across their region.

The Midlands Region team is pleased to invite colleagues to our virtual region meeting on 12 June. This year's programme focuses on end of life care and promises a varied and thought provoking agenda relevant to all professionals involved in the care of older people.

The meeting will bring together a range of expert speakers from across the region, covering topics including organ-specific palliative medicine, symptom control, pain management, communication, ethical decision-making and reflective practice. The programme has been designed to offer practical clinical learning alongside opportunities to consider the human aspects of caring for people approaching the end of life. Whether your interest lies in specialist palliative care, frailty, community geriatrics or acute hospital medicine, there will be valuable insights and discussion throughout the day.

We anticipate a highly engaging event and encourage colleagues from across the region and beyond to register. It will be our first as a larger combined region. We’re also delighted with the number of abstracts submitted and the calibre, which make for an interesting read. If you are unable to attend live, on-demand access will be available, allowing participants to benefit from the content at a time that suits them. 

Alongside regional activities, the BGS has continued to publish a range of reports, policy papers and blogs over recent months addressing some of the most pressing issues facing older people's healthcare. Of particular relevance to our meeting theme is the response from 29  April on the fall of the Assisted Dying Bill, outlining “significant concerns that the bill did not contain adequate safeguards to protect older people, the group most likely to be impacted by a change in the law. If a change in the law is considered again, the definition of terminal illness must be tightened, clear safeguards must be included to protect the interests of older people, and the complexities of their needs fully recognised”.

There is also a free-to-members CPD microlearning module on Advance Care Planning and indeed a wealth of other CPD to browse. For more narrative pieces related to the Assisted Dying Bill, there are a series of blogs on ‘where are we now and what happens next’.

Finally, a reflection on recent news regarding accessing medical records. It serves as an important reminder of our professional responsibilities. As doctors, we occupy a privileged position of trust. Access to confidential information is granted solely to support patient care, and maintaining the highest standards of confidentiality, professionalism and respect for patients and their families must remain central to our practice. These events underline the importance of using patient information only when there is a clear and appropriate clinical need and of safeguarding the trust placed in us by those we serve.

Please feel free to contact the Midlands region team if you would like to publicise local initiatives, quality improvement projects, research, education programmes or examples of excellent practice. We are always keen to showcase and celebrate the outstanding work taking place across our region.