South West

Region overview

The South West region covers the area including:

  • Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
  • Devon
  • Somerset
  • Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire
  • Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire
  • Dorset
  • Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

Meet South West BGS members

  • BGS members can join our members directory allowing them to connect with other healthcare professionals in their region.
     
  • The forum is free to access for all health professionals with a BGS web account. You can access it via the BGS app. Use the forum to discuss older people's healthcare by theme (e.g. dementia) or topic (e.g. workforce). The forum also allows you to ask questions, or help provide answers to other professionals. It is a forum where health professionals can ask seek help, offer support to others or share their successes. Find out more on the forum information page.

Get involved

There are multiple ways to get involved with your BGS region.

  • Submit content for your regional e-bulletin. The BGS sends a tailored quarterly e-bulletin to each of its six England regions. As the region areas are so vast, you can provide valuable support by sharing updates on what’s happening in your own hospital or Trust. Please email your Co-Chairs with updates.
     
  • Help to plan our online events and webinars. By joining the planning committee, you will have the opportunity to help create programme content, source speakers and support on the day. This will help to enable colleagues to improve the delivery of high-quality healthcare to older people. Please email your region Co-Chairs to express your interest.

No content associated with the South West Group found.

South West Officers

South West Region Update March 2026

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

The winter has been a challenge for much of the region, with significant viral illness affecting both patients and staff. Despite this, there continues to be strong commitment from community and acute services to improving care for older people through initiatives such as same day emergency care services and hospital-at-home models. These developments are significant, and many colleagues will recognise similar work taking place within their own practice areas.

Some may be aware of the recent major incident in Hampshire, when a significant fire at Southampton General Hospital resulted in the loss of more than 200 beds. Fortunately, there were no fatalities, but the event placed considerable pressure on services across the area and on patient care. One positive outcome was the way partner organisations across the region worked together to respond to the loss of capacity, with a strong emphasis on a “home first” approach. It was encouraging to see this collaboration in action and it reminds us that there are now many options available in the care of older people, and that not all emergencies require inpatient admission.

Other news includes excellent work from Health Innovation Wessex, collaborating with clinical leads in Hampshire and the University of Southampton on measuring the complexity of patients cared for within hospital-at-home services. This work will help build a stronger evidence base for these models of care.

There is also an Advancing Practice Conference taking place this month in Hampshire, celebrating the development of advanced roles across healthcare and the growing contribution of these practitioners to patient care.