TO BOLDLY GO……….
Greetings to you all! I hope that the last minute tidying up of your QuOF points is going well as you all endeavour to claim the alleged fortunes which the newspapers say you are raking in. However much that is, I know you will have all earned it by your hard work and care – I hope at least your patients appreciate those efforts.
Before I begin my little update, I am sure you will all join with me in thanking Garth Logan for the excellent job he has done over the past 2 years as president. I cannot tell you enough about all the effort he has put in so please, if you get the chance, get in touch with him and thank him yourselves.
I have always wanted to be captain of some kind of ship, but I could never have dreamt that I would be permitted to be nominally in charge of such a fine crew that is the PCR Society. I am regularly buoyed up by the skill, enthusiasm and drive which you all show either at the annual conferences or through your helpful and often challenging e-mails. The PCR Society has just passed its 20th year and so now is as good a time as ever to think about what we have achieved and where we go from here.
The main aim of our society has always been to raise the profile of musculoskeletal conditions, particularly in primary care but also on a wider footing. There can be no doubt that whilst much has been done in this area, we still have work to do. The most obvious way to do this in primary care would be through the QuOF. I do realise that we are talking about even more work being piled upon our already heavy schedules but I would sincerely hope that many of your good selves would already be doing much of the work already and that a higher profile for patients with these illnesses may result in more resources. Some of you may be aware that proposals for both musculoskeletal medicine and osteoporosis were rejected in the last round of talks. We hope to have learned from that experience and to plan our campaign better in the future.
Part of that learning experience has been realising the importance of having ‘higher authorities’ on board with our proposals. We have been working for many years to try and form stronger links with the RCGP, BSR and other related bodies. I am pleased to announce that we appear to be making further progress on those fronts. Graham Davenport has worked tirelessly, surviving many a slammed door in the last few years, to finally gain affiliation for the society with the RCGP (at least on paper!). Elspeth Wise and Louise Warburton have continued the work done by their predecessors to keep knocking on the door of the BSR through their Education and Training committee. This seems to be bearing fruit now and we understand that, amongst other initiatives, the BSR is to offer reduced rates to their annual conference for PCRS members – watch this space! It was also obvious from a meeting Garth Logan set up with the BSR President, Andrew Bamji, that they are keen to work with us and support us on many fronts, particularly on pressing for a musculoskeletal QuOF.
So it seems there is plenty to keep us busy in the immediate future. One of the things the Society (like any society) needs is fresh blood along with more paying members. Although it has not been spread very widely, decisions were made at the last conference affecting both those issues. One was to increase the annual fee for members to £75 per annum. The annual fee has remained at £50 for 12 years and I hope that you do not find the extra £25 we are asking excessively burdensome – I suppose statistically it does represent a 50% increase! If you currently pay by Bankers Order please let your bank know of the increase (all account details remain the same). The other decision was to allow free membership to GP registrars in the hope that they might be attracted to, and stay with, the society. Please make your course organisers aware of this.
As for getting more out of the society, we still have hopes that our new website will develop and become a great resource for our members though I suspect we need someone from amongst the society to push this. Any volunteers are most welcome. We had also hoped to develop local PCR groups but once again, on the IT side, we are having problems ‘mapping’ everyone’s location – help!
I am pleased to see that the society is planning to get involved in research once more. John Dickson highlighted a drug trial at the last symposium and I’m sure there will be further developments on this front.
This year’s annual symposium in York will again offer reduced rates to members and is to be held between the 15th and 17th of November. In addition to this there will be a GPwSI Conference on the 23rd and 24th May. The format of the conference will follow that of last years: i.e. an educational day and a day focused on GPwSI assessment and appraisal. The educational day this year will be looking at assessment and management of problems of the foot and ankle and will be run by Phil Helliwell and colleagues who run the very popular BSR foot and ankle course. Early booking is advisable as there are only 60 places and there has been a lot of interest expressed. A GPwSI competency framework, recently published in Rheumatology is available from Helen on request.
I hope to see many of you somewhere along the line this year. It promises to be a year of opportunity for the society and whether you are active in the society as a rower or as an enthusiastic coxswain, I wish you all the best.
Things to Remember/Dates for your Diary 2007
- January/February Please renew your PCR Membership &/or amend your Bankers Order
- 23/24th May ARC GPwSI Meeting – Weetwood Hall, Leeds
- 15-17th November PCR Annual Conference, York