News
British Trauma Society (BTS) update H urry get your diaries out and make a note: our annual scientific meeting is planned for Oxford, 24th – 25th November 2021. There will shortly be a call for abstracts – please see our website www.bts-org.co.uk and follow us on twitter @britishtrauma for more information. We have an exciting provisional programme that will appeal. We aim to make it an unforgettable event so please come and join us and together we will put behind our difficult year. We are a multi-disciplinary society, involving all those in the care of the injured patient. We aim to create standards for certain categories of polytrauma patients in collaboration with other specialties, ranging from obstetrics to ophthalmology, culminating in ‘go to’ documents.
Inspired by Dr Chris Turner’s insightful keynote speech at our 2019 conference on how ‘civility saves lives’ we have been thinking more about how behaviour can affect outcomes in trauma and how we can reduce the risk of medical error (especially during the current climate). We hope to run our Human Factors Conference at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, at a safer time – provisionally planned for 21st June, 2021. Several regional external fixator courses are being planned throughout the year aiming to cover principles of external fixation and their application in long bone and pelvic injuries. These courses are aimed
at all grades of surgeons with particular emphasis on ‘hands on’ practicals. Previous courses have been well received by attendees and are ideal for revalidation in trauma. We strive to be adaptable in order to deliver the best learning opportunities possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. Let us hope that we can meet, greet, socialise, and exchange ideas at our events in 2021! n
British Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (BOFAS) update James Davis
“Our weekly ‘lectures of distinction’ designed for trainees and the general orthopaedic surgeon has received excellent feedback and we aim to continue these through 2021.” 12 | JTO | Volume 09 | Issue 01 | March 2021 | boa.ac.uk
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he British Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (BOFAS) has, much like most other societies, been unable to hold its normal annual conference. We have been innovative and cogent of the virtual conference weariness experienced by the majority of the medical profession by holding short punchy webinars throughout the year. These have been designed to deliver small, focussed aliquots of education to both our consultant members and general orthopaedic surgeons. Our weekly ‘lectures of distinction’ designed for trainees and the general orthopaedic surgeon has received excellent feedback and we aim to continue these through 2021. We are about to start a virtual journal club with authors presenting their published articles and being available for questions. Our Scientific Committee held a virtual conference encompassing the experience of foot and ankle practice worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. This unsurprisingly mirrored the UK‘s experience with significant interruption to normal elective activities. Our annual conference has been condensed to an afternoon on 11th March where we have organised a short scientific programme with paper presentations and two short lectures followed by an educational section discussing differing opinions in the management of three controversial topics. All virtual activities are well signposted on the BOFAS website (www.bofas.org.uk). We have made progress with our GIRFT agenda and the development of virtual horizontal networks for supported decision making for joint replacements along with discussions with ‘Beyond Compliance’ and ODEP for implant rating. Our BOFAS registry is becoming more active and as a society we are excited to see the development of registries in clinical practice particularly in light of the Cumberledge report and the requirement for implant companies need for follow-up data. The times may be unsettling but we in the BOFAS community stay positive and strive to improve the treatment of our national foot and ankle patients. n
