RADIOLOGY 1999

NATIONAL GASTRO-INTESTINAL RADIOGRAPHERS SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP
Radiology 99 Report to members

(Jane Bewell to welcome everyone and introduce the committee members)

(Christine Bloor to deliver annual report)

ANNUAL REPORT

Over the last year there have been a lot of very exciting developments and I would like to just briefly tell you about some of these. First of all a tour of the country and news of the regional groups, please feel free to speak to committee members here today after this meeting for further details of who to contact. The details will also be in the next rad magazine and synergy :

There was extremely encouraging news from all over the country. The Southern Regional Group (Poole, Bournmouth, Salisbury and Winchester) had held its first meeting successfully with a good attendance. They elected two national representatives in Jenny Sword of Salisbury and Annie Wellman of Southampton. The next meeting of the Southern Regional Group has been arranged for Thursday 7th October 1999.

Robert Law of the Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, is forming a group in the Taunton, Swindon Yeovil, Gloucester area.

The North-West Regional Group's first meeting had been a great success, with the second organised for April/May in Burnley.

There were ten people from Devon and Cornwall region who attended their first meeting which was held in Plymouth. It was acknowledged that a lot can be gained from smaller groups and that lack of large numbers should not in any way deter groups from setting up and meeting.

The Yorkshire Regional Group has held its second meeting at the Hallamshire in Sheffield, which was a well attended and informative evening. The third meeting was in Middlesborough on 28th April 1999, which was very well attended and had interesting talks presented by speakers who got their message across despite technical gremlins!

Nassar Hussain of the North Middlesex Hospital, reported that he is coordinating a London group, using the M25 as a boundary, anyone within the London area.

Julia Richardson of Southend, is organising an East Anglia meeting, Robert Pit is setting up a group in the Kettering, Leicester, Nottingham area and Julia Warrilow is forming a group in the Swinton, Birmingham district.

Lorna Anderson and Carole Walker have organised and held their first meeting for a Scottish Regional Group it was held on Saturday 8th May 1999 in Dundee.

Anyone in the Kent region is welcome to contact Nassar Hussain and join the London group. Anyone in Wales is invited to join the nearest regional group. It is hoped that radiographers in Northern Ireland will be able to join us for the National meetings.

If anyone knows of anywhere we have missed or has any comments we would be pleased to hear from you at the end.

THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE will eventually be made up of two locally elected representatives from each of the regional groups. We do have representation on committee for most of the regions but would encourage and welcome representatives from other areas. The national committee has met twice in the last year, using the C&SoR offices in London.

We have allowed time for the regional groups to get off the ground, so that our committee members are not swamped with work. We have also prioritised the work we need to do from our aims and objectives. The committee are shortly to produce guidelines for locally agreed protocols to help ensure that work is delegated appropriately and adequate support and cover are provided. In addition members of the committee have been heavily involved in producing standards for radiographer performed barium enemas for a colo-rectal cancer screening programme, which have been launched this week here at Birmingham.

We are pleased to see you here today and we do appreciate that it is not ideal for the GIRSIG meeting to be part of Radiology '99, making full registration for the day necessary and the problems of getting study leave etc For those who could not attend this year it is hoped that reports and abstracts of the talks we have just heard will be published in the GIRSIG newsletter, which I will tell you about shortly.

The committee have also been discussing the format and venue for a meeting at the end of Sept or beginning of October 2000. This will be organised by and be specifically aimed at radiographers with a special interest in the GI tract. The format of the meeting has been agreed as three sessions, Saturday am, Saturday afternoon and Sunday am. Each session will have a key speaker followed by supporting shorter talks on work in progress, case studies, short reports etc. Again we would welcome your comments and suggestions.

FINALLY I would like to invite you all to become members of the National Gastro-Intestinal Radiographers Special Interest Group. The membership fee is £10 per person per annum and the financial year will run from 1st June to 31st May. Membership is primarily for qualified radiographers with an active interest in this field, but other interested health professionals are also welcome.

As a registered member you will receive a bi-annual newsletter/bulletin which will include:

· details of forth-coming study days and events organised by regional groups or the national group
· information about research and audit currently being carried out at different hospitals
· lists of Barium Enema courses
· discussions about advances in current practice
· letters / articles / reports / case studies etc. written by members
· abstracts of relevant published work with references
· feedback from the national GIRSIG to members
· feedback from regional GIRSIGs to national and regional members

A reduced registration rate for the bi-annual national meetings will be offered to members of GIRSIG.

It should also be appreciated that while a lot of the stationary costs etc. are currently being borne by department managers, the "routine" organisation of a national group does incur expenses, and there is a limit to 'goodwill'.

Membership will be available from 1st June 1999, shortly after which time the first Newsletter will be issued. However If you wish to join in advance, please see our Treasurer, Jane Savage.

We hope you will consider becoming a member of GIRSIG, benefiting from the work being put in by the committee, and in time contributing yourself, with ideas, committee work, organisation, papers etc.

(Jane Savage to give very brief Treasurers report:)

(Jane Bewell to ask for any comments feedback etc)

(Jane Savage to give very brief Treasurers report after Christine Bloor delivers the annual report).

The National GIRSIG has an interest account with Barclays Bank with a current balance of £245.09.

This amount is from membership subscriptions paid last year by members of the national committee and some donations from companies. The nine pence is interest already earned. We canvassed a huge number of companies asking for £50 donations to get the national group off the ground. We received a number of replies, some with cheques and some with offers of financial support for specific events.

Our out goings so far have been minimal, an accounts book and a few miscellaneous expenses.

The bank have requested that cheques for membership be made payable to Gastro-Intestinal Radiographers SIG, which is a slightly shorter name than previously but clearly identifies our group account.

If anyone would like to join now I have my receipt book with me!

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