From the Executive Editor

Deborah Eastwood

So… where has this year gone? It seems, to me at least, to have flown by. We thought that 2020 was a year like no other but 2021 seems to have been similar but different. There has been much sadness and loss, including one of my mentors (page 62) but now also happier times with parties, weddings, theatre trips and sporting events (and yes I did attend my first ever premier league game!) and simple nights in or out with friends and family.

At work, we continue to tackle a seemingly insuperable mountain of cases that require our skills and care. As we heard presented at the BOA Congress, the stark reality is that with a 5% increase in workload nationally, it would still take us nearly 9-10 years to recover the deficit without counting the potential second wave of lost and late referrals. The pandemic taught us to work differently and showed us that change can be achieved quickly when needs must – well needs must now and as our President says, we must work well with our colleagues, for example at #BestMSK Health, to be innovative and resourceful. At all times we must respect and care for our patients and our trainees – both their viewpoints, one individually (page 22) and one collectively (page 42) have an important place in this edition. In this changing world, the way we deliver education at all levels has undergone a seismic change ( pages 20, 34 & 38) – we may all be ‘webinar-ed’ out but out of this change, good things have happened and they may simply need tweaking as we swing back towards the ‘good old times’. However as 2022 approaches, we must not let ourselves get caught in this wish to ‘go back to how it was’ – the future is bright, the future is different and the future is ours. It is still attracting the brightest and the best trainees and students (page 8).

Along with all this looking forward, there is always scope to be fascinated by our past and if you want to know if you look like Lucy, you should read Kartik Hariharan’s article on the anthropology of the human foot (page 30), and the subspecialty section on the foot and ankle makes interesting reading too.

The new year will bring new members to council with a wide expertise to help us in our work, and by the time you read this, we will have a new Honorary Secretary too! Diversity, equality and inclusivity remain high on our agenda and we are delighted to see this reflected in our Council, Committees and membership. There is still work to be done in terms of gender diversity in the medico-legal world it seems (page 46), and my personal pledge for 2022 is that we will concentrate on the wider issues of diversity and of engagement.

As with last year, the front cover echoes our sentiments for this year ‘every piece matters’ and on behalf of the BOA and the JTO, I would like to thank all our members from Trainees to AHPs, from students to our SAS and Consultant colleagues for contributing to the bigger picture and making it complete.

We wish you all a relaxing festive season.