UPDATES FROM THE VASCULAR SOCIETIES
British Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in limb Absence Rehabilitation. (BACPAR)
www.bacpar.org | @BACPAR_official
The British Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in limb Absence Rehabilitation celebrated its 30th year during 2023, culminating with presentations outlining its achievements and discussions re future priorities at the VS ASM in Dublin. BACPAR was pleased to see high delegate numbers from its membership.
As at previous meetings it was an excellent opportunity to network with fellow BACPAR members and others in the MDT. And we were pleased to note excellent representation of BACPAR members within regional Vascular Research networks’ presentation.
Dr Miranda Asher will continue to represent BACPAR on the Journal of the Vascular Societies Great Britain and Ireland editorial board as part of her role as one of BACPAR’s research officers.
The BACPAR 2024 Spring Journal is being prepared for publication further disseminating good practice from the 2023 Dublin programme.
There is continued progress in the update and development of practice guidance supporting the post operative and prosthetic assessment and rehabilitation of individuals with limb absence, funding for which is supported by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.
To be noted as well publication of the SPARG PPAM Aid guidance update in late 2023 – having been reviewed by BACPAR members as part of the process- the link to the infographic follows https://www.bacpar.org/data/Resource_Downloads/PPAMaidInfographic.pdf the use of this equipment is confirmed as fundamental to Physiotherapy practice in this speciality.
The publication of All you need to know about Vascular Surgery book has been widely disseminated and has been welcomed to support the education of BACPAR members and pre-registration students on placement in limb absence rehabilitation settings.
The Executive committee meets to plan its coming year business in early March 2024. The agenda will include discussion re 2024’s collaboration with the Vascular societies; research, education, guidelines and the 2024 ASM programme. BACPAR is currently undertaking a survey of Physiotherapists involved in any part of limb absence rehabilitation to understand the status of the provision of Physiotherapy input, this will be shared at a NHSE Prosthetic centre managers’ planning and engagement event in March.
The British Society of Endovascular Therapy (BSET)
www.bset.co.uk | @BSETnews
The Annual Meeting will be held on Thursday 27th and Friday 28th June at Tortworth Court Hotel, Wotton under Edge, South Gloucestershire. The hotel is easily accessible from the M5 motorway. Bristol Parkway railway station is 30 minutes from the venue and Bristol Airport 40 minutes.
A National Vascular Training Day will be held on Wednesday 26th June for surgical and IR trainees, providing an opportunity for interactive workstation experience.
Registration for the meeting includes overnight accommodation at the hotel and dinner.
BSET promotes education and training in endovascular treatment and procedures. The Annual Meeting programme is designed to enhance professional development and promote good practice through information sharing and networking. The BSET meeting is the only dedicated UK meeting for the presentation of endovascular research and is an excellent opportunity for both surgical and IR trainees to present their work.
Confirmed speakers include:
Gustavo Oderich, Professor of Surgery, Chief of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery and Director of the Aortic Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, USA
Caitlin Hicks, Associate Professor of Surgery at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
Barend Mees, Associate Professor of Surgery at Maastricht University Medical Centre, Netherlands
Rob Morgan, Professor of Interventional Radiology at St George’s Hospital, London, and President BSIR for 2023-24
Steve Black, Professor of Venous Surgery at King’s College London
New award for 2024
The BSET pump priming award is to support a research project within the field of endovascular therapy. The award can be used for a stand-alone project, or to compliment an existing body of research which is either planned, or already underway. The award will be for up to £5,000.
The grant funding be used to purchase/fund equipment, device(s), consumables, database design and hosting (e.g. REDCap), technical assistance, supporting patient and public involvement (PPI) work/input, or other similar items.
Applicants can be any healthcare professional (doctors, nurses, allied healthcare professionals) within the UK working in the NHS, or UK students undertaking healthcare professional degrees.
Visit www.bset.co.uk/research to apply. The deadline for applications is Monday 19th February. Interviews will be held on-line on Thursday 7th March (from 5pm).
British Society of Interventional Radiology (BSIR)
www.bsir.org | @BSIR_News
Rouleaux Club
www.Rouleauxclub.com | @RouleauxClub
The new year brings some new changes for the Rouleaux Club. Under the direction of past President, Leanne Erete, the association saw the election of the inaugural ‘Specialty and Associate Specialist (SAS)/Locally Employed Doctor (LED)’ representative, to help promote engagement and representation from SAS/LED colleagues. The association is also excited to see the creation of a representative role for Irish trainees, with the aim of building links between trainees of the two nations.
The Vascular Society’s (VS) recent Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) in Dublin was a busy period for the association, with the running of the ‘Introduction to Vascular Surgery’ course for medical students and junior doctors, and the second iteration of the MDT session. The conference also provided the opportunity to announce the winners of association’s annual Essay Prize, which this year saw over 70 excellent submissions. New for this year, the two winning essays will now be published in the JVSGBI.
In the run up to the ASM, the vascular community were saddened to hear of the death of fellow trainee, Simon Lau, who died in 2023. The association are grateful to the VS who provided time at the ASM for a tribute to Simon, in the presence of his family.
Moving forward to 2024 we are looking forward to continuing our educational programme, with hands-on practical courses for medical students and junior doctors at the upcoming Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT) and Charing Cross conferences. In addition, the association will also be collaborating with the RCSEd on two ‘So you want to be a vascular surgeon?’ courses. The online ASPIRE Juniors monthly webinar series will return soon and the association are also developing a new revision event for senior trainees in the run up to the November sitting of the FRCS (Vasc) examination (more details soon!). New for 2024 the Rouleaux Club are delighted to be working with the VS to develop a ‘Trainer of the Year’ Prize, to recognise excellence in teaching and training, with the aim of announcing the winner at the 2024 ASM.
The year will also see on-going debate about the function and make-up of the ‘Extended Surgical Team’ in vascular surgery, particular considering the results from the recent ASiT report into the role of physician associates. This issue has already seen fierce debate on social media and is a cause for concern for many trainees. The Rouleaux Club will be working closely with the VS, as well as ASiT and other stakeholders to represents the views and interest of trainees with this issue.
Andrew Nickinson
Rouleaux Club President
Society of Vascular Nurses (SVN)
www.svn.org.uk | @vascularnurses
Feedback from the ASM in Dublin has so far been very positive – the venue was fantastic and the social events were fabulous. The riots in the city on Thursday evening proved challenging, but certainly made for some interesting stories. Inside the venue there was no rioting but the depth of feeling around nurse delivered venous intervention services generated some passionate discussion. The SVN continue to support our members who are currently delivering this service and are encouraging them to publish outcome data. We continue to support members who are in the process of developing these services as part of service expansion and quality improvement.
We are delighted to have elected three full time members to the committee and welcome
Melissa Hughes, Advanced Clinical Practitioner, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals
Jayne Snellgrove, Vascular Nurse Specialist, Liverpool University Hospital Foundation Trust
Nadine Lawrence, Vascular Nurse Specialist, Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
They bring with them a wealth of knowledge, experience and perhaps most importantly enthusiasm.
We have also welcomed one seconded member for the year.
Chiamaka Igbokwe, Advanced Clinical Practitioner, Manchester Royal Infirmary.
We hope she finds her year useful and may indeed wish to become a full committee member at the end of it.
We are sorry to lose Claire Thomson who will step down in February 2024. She has ably run the membership side of the society and will and over this role now to Jayne Snellgrove. We are running slightly short of our full complement of 15 committee members and will be re-advertising.
One of the aims of the SVN this year is to promote education among our members and the wider nursing community. We are in the process of negotiating with NHSE regarding a PAD education module and have aspirations to provide webinars for members on a regular basis.
We are delighted to hear of members using the SVN Capability document to support their roles, develop careers and ensure suitable re-numeration.
The SVN continues to support the Legs
Matter campaign.
The committee continue to link in to the
APPG on Vascular and Venous Disease and
will be represented at the next drop in
session in parliament in March 2024.
Jane Todhunter
SVN President
Society for Vascular Technology of Great Britain and Ireland (SVT)
www.svtgbi.org.uk | @svtgbi
Vascular Anaesthesia Society of Great Britain & Ireland (VASGBI)
www.vasgbi.com | @vasgbi
The VASGBI ASM 2023 took place in Brighton where delegates enjoyed balmy Indian summer weather whilst gaining insights from fantastic speakers. We very much enjoyed hearing about the history of AAA repair from Professor Yusuf and challenged to consider the complexities involved in deciding when to offer (or not offer) AAA repair by Rachel Bell. Local surgeon Mike Brooks entertained us with his opinions about why carotid endarterectomy should be done awake with local anaesthetic blocks; Mark Edwards astonished us with his grasp (as a surgeon) of how communication can be key to influencing outcomes in major vascular surgery. Brighton anaesthetist Abhijoy Chakladar spoke persuasively about how he and colleagues developed a nerve catheter service which has revolutionised the care of patients admitted with CLTI, and Richard Stoddart impressed the audience with his demonstration of how easy it is for anaesthetists to gain competence in focused cardiac echo. We very much hope that in future we will be able to have conferences joint with our surgical and allied professional colleagues, which we anticipate will oil the wheels of communication between us to our mutual benefit and that of our patients.
In January it was announced that our immediate past chair of VASGBI, Dr Ronelle Mouton, was awarded a Macintosh Professorship by the Royal College of Anaesthetists. We are all very proud of her and her achievement. She will be delivering her lecture ‘Strategies to optimise outcomes following abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery – challenges and opportunities’ at the RCoA hybrid cardiac disease and anaesthesia symposium in April 2024. To book a place at this meeting click here: Cardiac disease and anaesthesia symposium | The Royal College of Anaesthetists (rcoa.ac.uk)
VASGBI was a key collaborator on the 7th anaesthetic National Audit Project investigating peri-operative cardiac arrest which was published in November 2023. The study showed, not surprisingly, that vascular patients were over-represented in cases of peri-operative cardiac arrest and recommended that clinicians undertake and record pre-operative risk scoring assessments and DNACPR discussions. A summary of the NAP7 report can be read here: https://rcoa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/ documents/2023-11/NAP7_Chapter%204_ FINAL.pdf
On March 15th 2024 VASGBI will host the biennial CPD in vascular anaesthesia meeting which is being organised by Dr Dan Taylor and his team from Guys and St Thomas’. The programme promises a challenging, informative and thoroughly updating day. Click the link to register: VASGBI CPD Meeting - Friday 15th March 2024 - VASGBI
The work of VASGBI focuses on developing the knowledge and skills of our members, in order to support continual improvement in the care provided to patients requiring vascular surgery. We have in partnership with colleagues in the east of England developed an online learning package covering the essentials of vascular anaesthesia for trainee anaesthetists. This was launched late in 2023 and is now accessible from the NHS learning hub website: Resource (learninghub.nhs.uk). This is free to access but you will need to log in. An account is free and easy to set up.
The next VASGBI ASM will be held at the Queen’s hotel in Leeds on 9th and 10th September 2024. The committee will be finalising the programme in March, after which registration will open. Please visit our website for more details: VASGBI
The Vascular and Endovascular Research Network (VERN)
www.vascular-research.net | @VascResearchNet
The Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland
www.vascularsociety.org.uk | @VSGBI
The Dublin ASM was hugely successful and one of the best attended ASMs in recent years. The Society would like to thank Ciaran McDonnell for championing Dublin as a venue, Douglas Orr who chairs the ASM Committee and Executive Business Support (EBS) for delivering such a fantastic ASM. The feedback received has been overwhelmingly positive and planning has started to welcome everyone to Brighton for Andy Garnham’s Presidential meeting.
The themes for the ASM 2024 will be ‘building complex teams’ and ‘sustainability’. The Society has already published an Editorial in this Journal on the journey to greener vascular surgery (J.Vasc.Soc.G.B.Irel. 2023;2(4):197-199) and will be building on this work through this year.
The extended surgical team, with a specific focus on superficial venous interventions, proved a highly emotive subject at the Dublin ASM. Trainees are deeply concerned about the impact of any changes in the delivery of superficial venous interventions on their training. Much work since at the Executive and in Elected Council has been looking closely at the survey findings, working with the Presidents of the Allied Societies and the Rouleaux Club, and developing a strategy to move forward. This strategy will be based around a joint society working group chaired by Patrick Coughlin.
The Vascular Society published a statement to members regarding the role of Medical Associate Professionals (MAPs) within vascular multi-disciplinary teams in December:
https://www.vascularsociety.org.uk/_userfiles/pages/files/News%20resources/VS%20Statement%20on%20Medical%20Associate%20Professionals%20-%20December%202023.pdf
This statement recognised the role of Physicians Associates (PAs) within the extended surgical team but not their role as surgical practitioners. We felt this distinction is important for patient safety until regulation is in place. The drive for the recognition of vascular surgery as a speciality came from the need to improve patient outcomes though access to specialist care. We should not now move away from this principle. We must, however, acknowledge that people living with venous disease in the UK are not receiving good care. Change is needed, and it is right that we should lead on this work.
Returning to the theme of people and teams, RCS England published the findings of the UK Census of the Surgical workforce in January. We are grateful to members who took the time to complete the survey. The findings highlight changes that are needed include increased productivity, a sustainable workforce and changing the way we work.
https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/standards-and-research/surgical-workforce-census/
Concerningly half of respondents had considered leaving the surgical workforce in the last year and 61% cited burnout and stress as key challenges. The Provision of Vascular Services (POVS) is due its triannual update this year. POVS 2024 will take a different approach from POVS 2021 as the Society feels that the 2021 standards still apply. This year will focus on seven key themes and the first of these will be ‘people and teams’.
Last, but no means least, the Society is proud to have launched a publication entitled All you need to know about Vascular Surgery co-edited by Patrick Coughlin and Lasantha Wijesinghe. The book has been developed to provide a guide for medical students, early year doctors and allied healthcare professionals. However, whilst this book has a surgical emphasis, it is also aimed at all the professionals that make the vascular community – specialist nurses, surgical care practitioners and therapists. Please encourage your students and colleagues to use this fantastic resource.
Marcus Brooks
Honorary Secretary, Vascular Society
[email protected]
Article DOI:
Journal Reference:
J.Vasc.Soc.G.B.Irel. 2024;3(2):114-117
Publication date:
February 29, 2024
