2006/07 Annual Report 2006-07 final version.pdf · > Will deliver these objectives in collaboration...

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ANNUAL REPORT2006/07

k9702 bcs annual report 06-07 16 6/6/07 15:17

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Our missionThe British Cardiovascular Society:

> Sets standards of excellence; for individuals, organisations and the care of patients with cardiovascular disease.

> Is committed to training and education, and supports thepractice of professionals working within cardiovascular health, science and disease management.

> Is the primary source of professional advice and advocacy in these areas, to government, funding bodies and industry.

> Will deliver these objectives in collaboration with patients, the public and partner organisations.

k9702 bcs annual report 06-07 16 6/6/07 15:17

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ContentsOfficers of the Society 2

Administrative Staff of the Society 3

Introduction and Report from the President 4

Affiliated Groups 6

Working Groups and Other Reports 19

Clinical Standards Division 24

Education and Research Division 26

Training Division 27

Corporate and Financial Affairs Division 28

British Cardiovascular Society9 Fitzroy Square, London W1T 5HW Tel: + 44 (0)20 7383 3887 Fax: + 44 (0)20 7388 0903 email: [email protected]

www.bcs.com

k9702 bcs annual report 06-07 16 6/6/07 15:17 Page 1

PresidentDr Nicholas Brooks 2005-7

President ElectDr Nicholas Boon2005-7

Honorary SecretaryDr Stephen Holmberg2006-8

Vice-President ElectClinical StandardsDr David Hackett2006-7

Vice-President Corporate and Financial Affairs (not pictured)Dr Kevin Jennings2006-9

Vice-President TrainingDr Peter Mills2006-7

Vice-President Education and ResearchProf David Crossman2003-8

Vice-President Elect Training(not pictured)Prof Stuart Cobbe2006-7

Officers of the Society

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Chief Executive OfficerMs Finola McNichollAppointed [email protected]

Head of Corporate ServicesRosemary WestonAppointed [email protected]

Resources ManagerMary-Lou PittsAppointed [email protected]

Finance CoordinatorBindi SheemarAppointed [email protected]

Meetings AssistantMichelle BrobbeyAppointed [email protected]

Head of DevelopmentKirsten BradburyAppointed [email protected]

Affiliates CoordinatorLulu HoAppointed [email protected]

Affiliates CoordinatorAzeem AhmadAppointed [email protected]

Projects Coordinator (not pictured)Anna KassaiAppointed [email protected]

Head of Information ServicesSteven YeatsAppointed [email protected]

IT Support SpecialistJasdeep BhamberAppointed [email protected]

Web DeveloperDilowar HussainAppointed [email protected]

Staff of the Society

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This year’s annual report marks the first 12 months of the charity’s operation under its new name, the BritishCardiovascular Society, and of the implementation of the revised governance structure that was approved at the Annual General Meeting in April 2006.

The pace of change, to which I alluded in the 2005-06 report,shows no sign of abating and the year’s activities have beendominated as much by reacting to events as to working on,and setting in place the infrastructure for, the major strategicinitiatives that will define the Society’s role for future years.

Board of TrusteesThe new governing body of the Society, the Board of Trustees,has been expanded by the appointment of two non-executivedirectors. Professor Dame Carol Black currently chairs theAcademy of Royal Medical Colleges. She will be well known tomembers both for her international distinction as a rheumatologistand for her commitment, whilst President of the Royal Collegeof Physicians of London, to the development of a newpartnership between the Society and the Federation. Mr Graham Meek is a former director of Merrill Lynch and non-executive director of numerous UK-based high technologycompanies. He has served on the Finance Committee for four years and, thanks to his expertise, our financial position, which underpins all the Society’s activities, is secure andconforms with the complex regulations relating to thegovernance of charities.

Executive and CouncilWe have been delighted to welcome two new members to theExecutive: Professor Stuart Cobbe as Vice-President Elect forthe Training Division and Dr David Hackett as Vice-PresidentElect for Clinical Standards; they will assume full responsibilityfor their respective divisions after the AGM in June. Dr ChrisClough, Medical Director of the Joint Committee on HigherMedical Training (shortly to be renamed the Physicians’ TrainingBoard) has joined Council to represent the Federation. Hisexperience of post-graduate training will add greatly to Council’sinsight into this increasingly controversial area, of vital interest tothe Society and its members, which has dominated the agendafor several years. Professor Roger Hall has stepped down after his highly successful term as editor of Heart and has been succeeded by Professor Adam Timmis, who takes his place on Council and whose innovative ideas promise to sustain the continuing success of the journal.

New affiliated groupThe British Society of Cardiovascular Imaging (BSCI) becomesthe 16th group to be affiliated to the Society and we lookforward to a close working relationship with our radiologistcolleagues. All four imaging groups (BSE, BNCS, BSCMR and BSCI) are cooperating over the urgent task of developing a curriculum for subspecialty training in cardiac imaging.

Federation and RCPThree areas of activity have dominated the interface betweenthe Society and the Colleges during the last year: specialisttraining (report on p. 27), and the developing agendas ofrecertification and service reconfiguration.

The Chief Medical Officer’s report ‘Good Doctors, SaferPatients’ (to which the Society responded) and the subsequentGovernment White Paper (Trust, Assurance and Safety – the Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21st Century)confirmed that the specialist societies, working with theColleges, will have a central role in the proposed process ofrecertification. Together with the related subject of subspecialtyaccreditation, recertification will define a challenging new activityfor the Society and a major focus for the work of the ClinicalStandards Division. I believe that our participation in theseprocesses is vital to ensure that they are supportive to ourmembers and proportionate in their scope.

Service issues continue to dominate much of the agenda and,for the Society to provide advocacy and leadership, there needs to be effective communication with members throughoutthe country. To this end, joint RCP-BCS advisors for servicehave been appointed from almost every cardiac network (or equivalent) in the UK. An immediate task, in collaborationwith the Academy, is to integrate optimal management ofpatients with cardiovascular emergencies into the Department of Health’s proposed framework for the reconfiguration of acuteservices. Improved communication between the Society, theColleges and the networks should also serve to strengthenprofessional leadership over other current issues including, for example, commissioning of services in the context of thetension between central direction and the financial interests of independent trusts, which, in turn, are driven in part by theanomalies arising from tariffs and the system of payment byresults. It is very much to be hoped that the Heart ImprovementProgramme and its associated cardiac networks, that have beenso successful in planning local services and whose mandatewas renewed at the beginning of this year, will continue toreceive government support for the foreseeable future.

Introduction and Report from the President

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External relationsThe common themesunderlying the Society’srelations with the EuropeanSociety of Cardiology (ESC)and the American College ofCardiology (ACC) are trainingand education. Collaborationwith the ACC has broughttheir outstanding educationaland CPD programme,Cardiosource, as a benefit to our members, and Heart’swidely acclaimed series,Education in Heart, has beenmade available on-line to all

members of national societies affiliated to the ESC. Joint sessionswith both the ACC and the ESC are scheduled for this year’sAnnual Scientific Conference and we look forward to welcomingto Glasgow in June the Vice-President of the ACC, ProfessorDouglas Weaver, and three Board members of the ESC: thePresident, Professor Kim Fox, Professor Jean-Pierre Bassandand Professor Petr Widimski.

Collaboration with the British Heart Foundation has focusedpredominately on the priorities for its new division of Preventionand Care. The Foundation has a highly successful record inidentifying gaps in service and in ‘pump-priming’ the appointmentand training of health professionals – predominately nurses andscience graduates – to fulfil the required roles. Continuedinvestment in such targeted training, informed by the Societyand networks, is likely to remain a priority and will link with theSociety’s initiative on the accreditation of practitioners with aspecial interest in cardiology (report p. 20).

Legislation on smoking, emphasis on exercise, publicity overchildhood obesity and the efforts of the Food StandardsAgency on food labelling have placed the UK ahead of manycontinental European nations in political measures focused onprevention. The Society is cooperating with the ESC, and othernational heart foundations and societies in an initiative to have a policy – the European Heart Health Charter – incorporatedinto EU law. The Charter will be launched in June and theSociety has obtained funding from the European Commissionto promote the activities of the Working Group, led by Dr JaneFlint, on heart disease in women.

Peer reviewLast year we planned to develop the Society’s voluntary peerreview scheme towards the assessment of networks rather thanindividual trusts. Perhaps as a result of the climate of increasing

regulation and external scrutiny, however, applications for peerreviews have declined. Requests for assistance from trust chiefexecutives during the last eighteen months have focused onindividual performance. Whilst some have questioned theappropriateness of the Society’s involvement in the investigationof its own members, we firmly believe that this should be a coreactivity of a specialist society, and it is linked to the forthcomingrole in recertification. Performance review has, however,generated difficult legal issues relating to indemnity for theSociety and its reviewers if the conclusions are challenged.These difficulties have led to useful and constructive discussionswith both the Healthcare Commission (HCC) and the NationalClinical Advisory Service (NCAS) that have focused on sharing of expertise and, where appropriate, of information. A memorandum of understanding with the HCC has beendrafted and it is likely that the Society will develop acollaborative relationship with both organisations. I believe that an explicit link of this nature should provide assurance to members that, in the event of their becoming the subject of a review, it will be undertaken fairly and supportively by their peers.

AcknowledgmentsThe activities and achievements recorded in this annual reporthave been driven and sustained by the commitment of the manymembers and associate members who have given so generouslyof their time. In this, my final report before retiring as President, I thank all those who have served on the Trust Board, onCouncil, in the affiliated groups, standing committees andworking groups and as advisors. I would also like to thank themembers who gave me the opportunity and privilege of leadingthe Society for the last two years and the permanent staff ofFitzroy Square for their support, encouragement and friendship.

BCS stand at ESC Congress 2006

ESC joint session at ASC 2006


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The BCS is particularly proud of its continuing

association with its Affiliated Groups. These

organisations greatly enhance the expertise and

strength of the Society in our attempts to fulfil our

Mission Statement. Members of Affiliated Groups

are now closely involved in all aspects of the work

of the Society – an integration process facilitated

by our new Divisional Structure.

Rehabilitation is a vital component of cardiovascular

patient care. Financial reorganisation in the NHS has

put the ability of some hospitals to deliver this care

under great strain but BACR continues to champion

this important work for patients.

British Association for Cardiac Rehabilitation (BACR)President: Mrs Bernadette Downey

BACR have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure CR remains high on the agenda of the NHS. Currentlywe are involved in a national campaign to highlight the role ofCR in the care of the cardiac patient. BACR drafted an updateof its standards in 2006. The standards will accommodate new practice and innovation, and pave the way for CR to bedelivered safely and effectively to an ever-increasing patientpopulation. They have been peer reviewed and will bepublished later in 2007.

One of the mostly widely debated subjects during 2006 hasbeen the proposed name change for BACR. As a result, BACR has sought long and hard to seek members’ views about renaming the Association to reflect the changing natureof cardiovascular disease, and the complexity and diversity of CR as delivered in the 21st century. The vote to change thename will be a postal vote giving all members the opportunity to have their say and will take place during 2007.

The annual BACR conference in Belfast, which was held inassociation with the Irish Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation,was well attended and a very successful event. For the firsttime we also incorporated the BACR Exercise ProfessionalGroup’s annual meeting onto the main conference and this was very well received.

Membership continues to grow and our successful partnershipswith the following organisations are ongoing:

• British Cardiovascular Society

• British Society of Heart Failure

• Exercise Professionals’ Group including BASES, ACPICRand Phase IV training

• British Heart Foundation

• NHS Heart Improvement

• York University & National Audit for Cardiac Rehabilitation (NACR)

BACR together with the Exercise Professionals’ Groupcontinues to provide a range of educational courses includingthe very successful 2-day course in exercising cardiac patients.An advanced course looking at high-risk groups of cardiovascularpatients is now being delivered throughout the UK. The PhaseIV training course continues to go from strength to strength.The psychology module piloted last year (2006) has beenevaluated. BACR are currently looking at this evaluation with a view to providing a psychology 2-day course.

Our travel award of £2000 is now in its second year and hasproved very successful. The 2007 annual BACR conference will be held in Cardiff 21st – 22nd September 2007. BACR will be involved in hosting 2 sessions at BCS annual scientificconference in Glasgow in June 2007.

Affiliated Groups


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Cardiovascular care is no longer the sole

responsibility of the consultant but is based

on a multi-disciplinary team approach.

The BCS values its affiliation with the nurses,

physiologists and other professional groups

who contribute to the cardiovascular care

for patients.

British Association for Nursing in Cardiac Care (BANCC)President: Mr Ian Jones

This has been a most successful and productive year for ourorganisation, building on many of the initiatives of previousyears. A significant change has been the change of name, withthe organisation soon to be known as the British Association forNursing in Cardiovascular Care. We feel that this title provides amore accurate reflection of our business and the patient groupsthat our members serve.

We have also continued to support the work of the BCS,contributing to a number of committees and working groups in addition to the numerous consultation exercises that we haveparticipated in on a national level. We feel that this joint workingprovides a stronger voice for all our organisations.

This year has seen the inaugural BANCC cardiac nursing awardsin collaboration with the British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. Theseawards highlight the excellent innovative work of our membersin the cardiovascular community.

We have been working very closely with our colleagues in theEuropean cardiovascular nurses group over recent months. Thishas resulted in BANCC hosting the 7th Annual conference ofthe Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions.This is a prestigious event attracting an international audience.Hosting this event has allowed BANCC to advertise theexcellent work that has been undertaken to a wider audience.

This work has been undertaken by the conference committee in addition to organising our own annual meeting, which willonce again be held within the framework of the BCS annualscientific conference.

More recently we have gained an agreement with the RoyalCollege of Nursing jointly to accredit cardiac nursing events andresources. This agreement will mean that nurses will be able toattend certain events knowing that the subject and educationalcontent has been rigorously scrutinised by a number of expertcardiac nurses.

In addition, we have introduced a new training and developmentfund to assist our members to undertake additional educationor research. At the present time the award is worth £1000 butwith support we hope this will substantially increase over thecoming years. The organisation is also collaborating with twoexternal partners to provide a national E-learning module inacute cardiac care.

The council has been working tirelessly to provide a morerigorous governance framework for the organisation and anumber of policies have been introduced to assist in thisprocess. These have included undertaking preliminary work to apply for charity status. Finally, the council has undertaken a consultation exercise with the membership to establish thefuture goals of the organisation. The results of this activity willbe presented at the annual general meeting in June.

BANCC Council Members

BANCC session at ASC 2006


Society for Cardiological Science and Technology (SCST)Chair: Dr Chris Eggett

Within the last twelve months there have been numeroussignificant events in the Cardiac Physiologist world. Lastsummer saw the first cohort of students completing the new BSc Clinical Physiology (Cardiology) qualification after four years of study. These graduate cardiac physiologistsemerged as independent practitioners with proven competencyacross a broad range of both non-invasive and invasivetechniques after successfully completing the course thatincorporates the SCST professional body examinations as an integral part of the programme. For the first time theprofession is in the position of having a national standard of education and training that all cardiac physiologists mustcomplete in order to qualify.

The SCST Chairman, Catriona McGregor and Secretary,Gwyneth McClintock chose to step down from their postsduring 2006 having served the profession for numerous years as Council members. SCST are extremely grateful for their commitment and are pleased to report that both are stillactive on the national scene, at local branch level in Scotlandand Northern Ireland and within their own departments.

The cardiac physiologist workforce has become a majordiscussion topic with particular interest being triggered bynumerous reports that highlight the chronic shortfall of staff with specialist skills in this area. Despite continuous pressurefrom SCST and many BCS cardiology staffing reports over theyears pointing out a significant lack of investment in this area,no strategic plans have been implemented to tackle the issue.At last, the 18-week target has focussed attention on theimportance of prompt diagnostic procedures and it seems thathealth service planners are now aware of the lack of skilled staffwithin cardiac diagnostics. It is over a year since SCST, workingtogether with BSE, presented the Department of Health with

a proposed strategy for significantly increasing the number ofqualified cardiac physiologists. To date, no progress has beenmade in this area.

SCST have continued to develop professional guidance for ourmembers in terms of both career development and practicaladvice. During the last year we were pleased to receive BCSendorsement for our 12-lead ECG recording methodology thatis rapidly becoming recognised as the national standard as wellas being adopted in other parts of the world with permission foruse being sought from professional groups in both Australia andNew Zealand.

Members of SCST have once again been invited to provideprofessional expertise for numerous meetings and workinggroups. There have been regular meetings with the Departmentof Health and contributions to BCS working groups such as thecatheter laboratory staffing and practitioners with a specialistinterest in cardiology. The national Heart Improvement Team andCardiac Networks regularly consult with SCST and professionaladvice has been sought by the NHS Workforce Review Teamand British Heart Foundation.

Finally, an important strategic objective for SCST over manyyears has been to achieve statutory regulation for cardiacphysiologists with the primary objective of protecting the publicby ensuring minimum standards of education and competencyfor newly qualified staff, and mandatory continuing professionaldevelopment. Although the Health Professions Council made a recommendation to the Government in 2004 that this groupshould be brought under statutory regulation, this has still nottaken place. Whilst a voluntary registration scheme is wellestablished and proving popular, SCST sincerely hope that by this time next year statutory regulation will apply to allcardiac physiologists.

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SCST session at ASC 2006


British Junior Cardiologists’Association (BJCA)President: Dr Saul Myerson

Training has been dominated this year by theintroduction of the new MMC programme fromAugust 2007. Although the current generation of cardiologyNTN holders will not be affected by this during their training,they will have significant changes to cope with as consultantsand future trainees. The challenge for cardiology is to developappropriate selection processes that are able to identifyappropriate experience and ability in order to maintain the high standard of trainees. In addition, the training programmehas had to be overhauled and sub-specialty training is likely to become a more modular or fellowship-type system. TheBJCA has represented trainees’ interests at many levels andthroughout, we aim for the new system to be practical andrelevant to trainees, without significant organisational hurdles.Our survey of trainees on sub-specialty training last Octoberwas a good example of how our views were carried to therelevant decision makers.

In 2006, we continued to represent trainees’ issues (includingMMC) at several national committees, including the BCS, BCIS,BSE, Heart Rhythm UK, the Specialist Advisory Committee forcardiology, and the specialty and sub-specialty selection advisorycommittees of the JCHMT/Royal College of Physicians.

The fourth annual BJCA conference was held in Manchester inNovember 2006, attracting 170 trainees from around the country.The programme covered a wide range of topics and 100% ofattendees rated the programme excellent or good. The formatwas an extension of last year’s successful structure withmorning lectures in blocks of two and afternoon workshopsinvolving smaller more interactive groups including practicalexperience. Particular praise was given for the workshops onthe assessment of mitral regurgitation (Rick Steeds), arrangingtraining abroad (Jasper Trevelyan) and, once again, CampbellCowan for his superb ECG workshop. The keypads were alsoput to good use during the evening dinner when the BJCApresident, Saul Myerson, hosted a keenly fought quiz game on medical and not-so-medical topics.

The second BJCA research awards were held in September2006 in London and there were some exceptionally high qualitypresentations. Abstracts were separated into basic science andclinical areas, and each section presented to a panel of judges.The winner from each section was awarded the prize of a travelfellowship to a conference of their choice in 2007, thanks togenerous sponsorship from Cordis. As last year, many of thedelegates appreciated the ability to hone their presentation skills while fielding some particularly probing questions from the judges! The awards are also designed to facilitate contactsbetween researchers in different parts of the country, and tocompare the types and depth of research performed. We aimto continue the awards in 2007.

Our database of trainees in cardiology contains over 660members, which includes those with training numbers in addition to research fellows and fixed term SpR posts. We update the database, supported by the local BJCArepresentatives, to keep track as SpRs move into and out of regions. This allows us to disseminate news and informationon training courses and other training opportunities, through our electronic bulletins.

We also use the database to obtain the views of trainees on a range of issues, and this year focussed specifically on sub-specialty training and the ways in which this could bedeveloped. The large number of responses allows the BJCA to be representative when feeding back to the relevant bodies,which significantly strengthens our position.

This year, we are in the process of re-developing the website andintegrating with sections of the main BCS website. Together, weintend to provide the first port of call for cardiology trainees forall resources related to cardiology and training, including news,courses, conferences, training issues, fellowship schemes,guidelines and education. There will also be a forum for individualopinions and comments.

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Primary Care Cardiovascular Society (PCCS)Chair: Dr Terry McCormack

PCCS represents the primary care perspective oncardiovascular disease prevention and management to policymakers and expert bodies. It acts as a forum for debate and discussion on topical issues and new developments in cardiovascular medicine.

2006 was another successful year for the Society, with theannual scientific meeting and AGM in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in October providing a significant highpoint. A major themethroughout the meeting was of the management of the ‘tidalwave’ of obesity and type 2 diabetes which is expected to hitthe UK over the next 10 years. Guest presentations, a balloondebate, interactive sessions with keypad voting and practicalworkshops contributed to the three day meeting, which wasattended by some 150 delegates and described by many asthe best PCCS meeting yet.

The Newcastle programme included a meeting of the GPSIForum and a roundtable discussion of the AnticoagulationWorking Group. It also saw the launch of the third specialinterest group of the PCCS. The Cardiovascular Nurse Leaders(CVNL) Forum held its inaugural meeting on the first day of theconference, hosted by Maree Barnett, nurse advisor for theDoH Heart Team and Jan Procter-King. The CVNL Forum willbe open to those nurses who affect or are involved with thecare other nurses give. It will provide a network for education,sharing good practice and supporting those nurses who areinvolved in managing a team.

Earlier in the year, as well as running its own specialist interestmeetings, the PCCS participated in two joint plenary sessionsat the BCS Annual Scientific Conference in Glasgow. A packedauditorium heard five excellent presentations address ‘Keysteps in the management of heart failure in primary care’ whichthe PCCS ran jointly with BSH. The link between renal diseaseand CVD risk is a subject growing in popularity and the PCCSwas again at the forefront of discussing this important newissue in its second joint plenary session with the BritishHypertension Society.

Following the publication of the Joint British Societies Guidelinesfor CVD Prevention in Clinical Practice (JBS2) in December 2005,the PCCS has continued its involvement with the guidelines.Members have been active in promoting their dissemination andimplementation throughout the year. The Society even sent arepresentative to the three major political party conferences tolobby MPs to secure a national programme for comprehensiveCVD risk screening for the over 40s as recommended by JBS2.

Another key activity during the year was the involvement of the PCCS in developing the NICE/BHS HypertensionManagement Algorithm.

Finally in September, the PCCS was delighted to launch itsrevamped website which has received widespread approvalfrom the many visitors who have visited the sitewww.pccs.org.uk

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Delivery of care in the new NHS may have

increased the difficulties for those working

in areas of research. The BCS is committed

to supporting a strong research base in UK

cardiovascular medicine. Innovations such

as the new sponsored bursaries for non-medical

research workers to present at the Annual Scientific

Conference is one example of this support.

British Atherosclerosis Society (BAS)Chair: Prof Keith Channon

The British Atherosclerosis Society (BAS)holds two meetings each year in Spring and Autumn. These meetings, held over 2 days and attended by 100-150 delegates, have programmes that incorporate clinicaland basic science research in vascular disease. In 2006, theSpring meeting, held in Oxford, included sessions on clinicaland basic science aspects of vascular calcification, abstractpresentations, posters, The John French Lecture delivered by Professor Naveed Sattar, and the Michael Davies YoungInvestigator competition, sponsored by the British HeartFoundation. The Autumn meeting, held in Cambridge, wasorganised jointly with the British Society for CardiovascularResearch (BSCR), and addressed the theme of ‘BiomechanicalFactors in Atherosclerosis’. The meeting included a number of internationally renowned speakers addressing topics such as the effects of blood flow and pressure on aspects of vascularbiology, including Professor Shu Chien (La Jolla, California) whogave the Hugh Sinclair lecture. At the BCS Annual ScientificConference in Glasgow, BAS co-hosted a symposium entitled‘Update on lipids: from LDL to HDL’ with BSCR. The Springmeeting was held in Oxford on 22-23 March 2007 with the topic ‘the role of macrophages in atherosclerosis’, and theAutumn 2007 meeting will be a joint meeting with the EuropeanVascular Biology Organisation, to be held in Bristol on 17-20September. For further details please visit our website:www.britathsoc.ac.uk

British Society for CardiovascularResearch (BSCR)Chair: Prof David Eisner

BSCR held two meetings during 2006. TheSpring meeting was held on 27-28 March at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Centre at Hinxton near Cambridge. Organised by Andrew Grace, Jane Rogers and Willem Ouwehand, themeeting focused on ‘Cardiovascular genomics’ and provided an appraisal of basic and applied genomics, along with theappropriate use of technology in cardiovascular applications.Keynote lectures were given by Dan Roden (Nashville) on ‘The association of drug-induced arrhythmias and monogenicarrhythmic syndromes’, and by Bruce Furie (Boston) on‘Biological aspects of arterial clot formation’. A report of this meeting was published in the BSCR Quarterly Bulletin (Vol. 19, No. 3).

The Autumn 2006 meeting was combined with the BritishAtherosclerosis Society (BAS) and held in Queens’ College at the University of Cambridge on 21-22 September. The organisers were Dorian Haskard (Imperial College), Qingbo Xu (St George’s) and Peter Weinberg (Imperial College).The subject of the meeting was ‘Biomechanical signalling in atherosclerosis’ and included a special symposium on‘Stents: mechanical influences on the cell’. The Hugh Sinclairlecture was given by Shu Chien (San Diego) on the topic‘Mechanotransduction in feedback control of intracellularmechanics and signalling’.

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Two further meetings are scheduled for 2007. The Springmeeting will be held on 29-30 March at the University ofReading. This is being arranged by Katrina Bicknell and Gavin Brooks and will focus on ‘Emerging therapeutic targetsand technologies for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases’. The Autumn meeting is being organised by Michael Curtis and will be held at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, highlighting‘Drug-induced torsades de pointes’.

At the 2006 BCS Annual Scientific Conference, BSCR teamedup with a number of other groups to provide sessions tointerface basic science with clinical problems. Together withHeart Rhythm UK, a ‘Teach-in’ was held on ‘The humble ECG’and the BSCR supported a symposium ‘Update on lipids: fromLDL to HDL’ organised by BAS. Additionally, BSCR/BAS inconjunction with BCIS put on a plenary session ‘The use oftroponin in defining acute myocardial infarction’.

The AGM of the Society took place on 21 September 2006 at the University of Cambridge. The BSCR website is now atwww.bscr.org and a link has been set up for access from theBCS website. Membership has increased to almost 400, mainlyas a result of a drive to increase student membership. We aregrateful to Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals for core sponsorshipfor the 12 month period to October 2006.

British Society for Heart Failure(BSH)Chair: Prof John Cleland

In 2006, the BSH held its 9th AnnualAutumn Meeting in association with theBritish Geriatric Society (BGS) Cardiovascular section, entitled ‘Heart failure in older patients – the same onlydifferent’. This meeting was, for the first time, extended to oneand a half days, proving popular with the large multi-disciplinaryaudience of over 300 participants.

Earlier in the year, BSH was involved with seven successfulsessions at the BCS Annual Scientific Conference in collaborationwith nine other BCS affiliated groups. This programme not onlystrengthened relationships with these important allied groupsbut also expanded audiences for the sessions, allowing theSociety to reach out to an even greater multi-disciplinary group.Subjects ranged from treatment of heart failure in the communityto surgical approaches to heart failure beyond revascularisation.

In June we launched our own independent websitewww.bsh.org.uk including membership information, meeting programmes, reports and additional resources. This has links to the websites of both BCS and BHF.

We have also been involved in a number of other importantinitiatives and collaborations during the past year, including:

• Development of a national heart failure audit database,funded by the Healthcare Commission, which is currentlybeing piloted in 11 hospitals

• Reporting of a survey of heart failure services in 225 primary care trusts

• Reporting of a Healthcare Commission survey on heart

failure conducted in hospitals during 2005 and includingmore than 7,000 patients.

• Workshops on barriers to implementation of natriuretic peptides

• The first BSH/BACR HF Rehabilitation Steering Group Meeting– the aims of the group being to facilitate development of practice, audit and research, and to develop nationalrehabilitation guidelines for CHF patients in association with both Societies

• Input to PMETB on the development of a training curriculumfor registrars specialising in heart failure

• Continuing nurse education in partnership with GlasgowCaledonian University and the British Heart Foundation, now also franchised to the University of Leicester

• Input to the National Knowledge Service Heart FailureProject, aimed at facilitating access to information aboutheart failure

• Healthcare Commission Heart Failure Improvement Review,designed to ensure that patients with suspected heart failureundergo appropriate diagnostic tests and, consequently,receive optimal management

• Comments as a stakeholder on four sets of NICE guidelinesrelating to heart failure

• Engagement with the Heart Failure Association of theEuropean Society of Cardiology to provide information on relevant services in the UK

Finally, following the social, financial and publicity successes of the 2nd BSH Charity Ball, we are already planning our 3rd Charity Ball which we hope will be equally enjoyable and profitable from all perspectives for the Society.

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Non-invasive imaging continues to grow in its

diagnostic capacity. This year BCS is delighted

to include a report from its newest affiliated

group, BSCMR. Next year we will welcome

the British Society of Cardiovascular Imaging.

British Nuclear Cardiac Society(BNCS)President: Dr Mark Harbinson

It has been a busy year for BNCS withprogress on education, training andaccreditation issues. We have continued to work closely with BCS and other interested partners.

Nuclear cardiology was again well represented at the BritishNuclear Medicine Society (BNMS) meeting held in Manchesterin March 2006. There were two interesting abstract sessionswith papers presented from several units across the country.BNCS, as usual, organised a number of sessions at the BritishCardiovascular Society Annual Scientific Conference in April2006. This year the focus of its sessions has changed to bemore collaborative and include contributions from severalgroups. The main session, co-chaired by Professor NaveedSattar from Glasgow, representing Diabetes UK, was entitled‘Assessment of coronary artery disease in diabetes’ and was very well attended. There were excellent talks on severalaspects of diabetic vascular disease including the use ofcoronary calcium scoring and SPECT techniques for screeninghigh risk patients, and the use of nuclear techniques for patientmanagement and risk assessment. BNCS also contributed to a multimodality imaging session on the assessment of patientswith heart failure and left ventricular systolic dysfunction.

The BNCS annual meeting in December was very well attendedand a wide range of topics were covered. In the first sessionone subject which provoked a lot of interest was the use ofnuclear cardiology techniques to monitor cardiac function in

chemotherapy patients. The remainder of the meetingcomprised topics including research presentations, updates on PET-CT and SPECT-CT in cardiology, imaging vulnerablepatients and plaque and case discussions.

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British Society of Echocardiography (BSE)President: Dr Kevin Fox

The British Society of Echocardiography has had a very successful year. Membership nowstands at 2300 and the society remains financially secure. The expanding activities of the BSE mean that we are having to redesign our office facilities and administrative structure. Weare relocating to more suitable office space offering better valueto our members. Administration of accreditation processes willbe led by a specific service separate from the administration ofmembership and our annual conference.

The BSE accreditations are popular and increasingly the standardfor practicing echocardiographers in the UK. Over 300 peopleparticipated in accreditation processes including TOE inpartnership with the Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists.Approximately 100 awards of accreditation were made.

Our annual meeting in Bournemouth was attended by nearly500 delegates. The venue, mix of interactive debate, educationand science was strongly supported by members both at themeeting and through the feedback. We had excellent supportfrom an expanded industry presence with interactive stands,such as training in cannulation, being particularly successful.

In a constant drive to improve the quality of echo provisionacross the UK we have tackled a number of key areas:

Guidelines: BSE has published documents on indicationsfor echocardiograms, monitoring patients on Trastuzumab(Herceptin), normal values for echo examinations, and ‘What is an echo’ to inform practitioners and commissioners.

Workforce: We have linked with the Department of Health,universities and SCST to press for workforce expansion as data increasingly demonstrate a shortfall in the provision ofecho that will only be compounded by the ‘18 week journey’project. The response from the DoH has been cautious and we are working hard to stimulate innovative training and growthin the workforce.

Independent echo providers: The BSE has met with DoHrepresentatives and other bodies linked to the independentprovision of echo services. While these may increase serviceprovision, there are real concerns about commissioning, thequality and quality assurance of providers and the value formoney that they offer. Current information suggests variation in contracts being signed and variability in practice.

Key commitments in 2007:

• Following the success of recent documents, we aim tocontinue to produce guidelines on the performing andreporting of echoes for members of the BSE, the BCS and commissioners of echo services.

• It is essential that any new models of echo provision are ofappropriate quality and so we will work with stakeholders toensure that new independent providers of echo have a strictframework of quality and value to which they adhere.

• We wish to build on links with the DoH, universities andSCST to press for workforce expansion to meet the growingneed for high quality echo services.

• Important developments in junior doctor training will takeplace in 2007, not least related to MMC. We will workclosely with the RCP, BCS and other imaging affiliatedgroups to improve training at all stages.

• A key part of the programme to improve echo serviceprovision is departmental accreditation. A major drive toexpand the number of accredited departments will takeplace in 2007 with an emphasis on departments with clinical leadership and quality assurance programmes

• The major national cardiac educational and scientific eventis the BCS Annual Scientific Conference. The BSE will besupporting the largest number of echo and imagingsessions ever at this conference.

The success of the BSE is reliant on the hard work of ouradministrative team, Council and the myriad of supporters who help with the accreditation process, conference and sub-committees. We offer them our heartfelt thanks.

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Dr Kevin Fox, President BSE at work


British Society ofCardiovascular MagneticResonance (BSCMR)Chair: Prof Dudley Pennell

The Society was formed in 2004, gained charitable status in2005 and became affiliated with BCS in 2006. The past yearhas been busy, building the profile and awareness of theSociety and recruiting members.

The aims of BSCMR are:

• to promote clinical practice and research into cardiovascularmagnetic resonance

• to disseminate the results of such research

• to advance education in cardiovascular magnetic resonancefor the benefit of patients.

The first BSCMR Annual Meeting in March 2006 was a greatsuccess with 70 attendees and the Society resolved to continueannual meetings to build networking and expertise in CMR inthe UK. At the BCS ASC in April 2006, BSCMR was involvedwith two sessions; ‘Multi-modality imaging in heart failure’ and‘State-of-the-art clinical cardiovascular magnetic resonance’.This meeting also marked official affiliation of the BSCMR to the BCS.

BSCMR has also provided input or comment to a number of important initiatives during the year, such as credentialing in CMR, EuroCHAP, European regulation of MR, EU safetydirective survey, a study of the use of Herceptin in MR and a BCS document focussing on the impact of non-invasiveimaging on coronary angiography. The Society has alsocontributed to the identification and prioritisation of new and emerging interventions in cardiology, and cardiovasculardisease through the national Horizon Scanning Group, whichreports to NICE.

Education and training is an important focus for BSCMR and the Society is involved with developing:

• The core curriculum in CMR as part of the cardiology SpR training scheme

• Guidelines on training in paediatric MR

• Discussions with the Royal College of Radiologists regarding development of a training module

Finally, we have set up our own website, www.bscmr.org,where more details about the Society and its projects can be found; this is a resource that we plan to build and developfurther in the coming year.

Heart Rhythm UK(HRUK)President: Dr Derek Connelly

The highlight of the past yearhas been the UK Heart Rhythm Congress, held at the NationalMotorcycle Museum near Birmingham on 19-21 September2006. We initially expected around 150 delegates but in the end almost 800 people attended the event. This congress has grown out of several previous events, including the BPEGcourse and the HRUK intervention meeting, and was co-hostedby Heart Rhythm UK and the Arrhythmia Alliance. We arecommitted to making it an important annual event in the cardiac rhythm calendar, and the 2007 congress will take placeon 29-31 October 2007 at the Hilton Metropole Birmingham.

Members of HRUK council have been influential in guidelinedevelopment. The new guidelines for device follow-up clinicsrun by cardiac physiologists have now been approved by counciland are awaiting approval of BCS. Other guidelines are beingdeveloped to deal with “end-of-life” issues in patients withimplantable defibrillators, both by the Arrhythmia Alliance andthe British Heart Foundation. Some of our members have alsoworked with NICE in formulating the health technology appraisalguidance for cardiac resynchronisation therapy which should bepublished in the summer of 2007. HRUK council elections haverecently been completed and we welcome Edward Rowland asPresident-elect, Neil Sulke as devices representative and CaroleJoyce as physiologist representative.

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BSCMR


British CardiovascularIntervention Society(BCIS)President: Dr Martyn Thomas

With continued expansion in both surgical and non-surgicalcentres during 2006-2007, BCIS maintains a key role in thedevelopment of interventional practice in the UK through itsgrowing multidisciplinary 1100 strong membership. Majordevelopments in the past year include the progressive rise inrates of revascularisation to approach European norms, theincreasing expansion of percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI) into non-surgical centres, improved access to timelytreatment for patients with acute coronary syndromes, theprogressive adoption of primary angioplasty for treatment of acute myocardial infarction and the exciting prospect ofpercutaneous valve intervention.

BCIS has encouraged and supported the development of new PCI programmes by means of its collaborative scheme ofpeer review in partnership with the DoH to ensure the higheststandards of patient care. The overall expansion in activity hasbeen carefully monitored by annual BCIS PCI audit and increasinglinkage with the Central Cardiac Audit Database (to which over90% of units now submit) will ultimately allow analysis of long-term outcome and risk stratification. Expansion of this auditactivity into fields of non-coronary intervention (percutaneousatrial septal closure, septal ablation for HOCM, and percutaneousvalve intervention) and linkage with newly established Europeandatabases is now anticipated.

BCIS is instrumental in the maintenance of training programmesfor PCI in the UK and its sub-speciality curriculum, developed in collaboration with the BCS Education Committee, has nowbeen largely adopted as the template for European training.BCIS sub-committees have also made representations to NICE in relation to revised criteria for DES implantation and the BCIS-1 multi-centre randomised trial, examining the role of the intra-aortic balloon pump in high risk PCI, is well underway withprojected completion of recruitment in 2008.

In addition to its mainstream contribution to the BCS AnnualScientific Conference, BCIS hosts two popular nationalmeetings each year. The 2006 Autumn Meeting held inManchester attracted 230 delegates with a varied programme,including a highly topical forum on the status of drug elutingstents in the wake of widely reported controversies generatedduring the preceding ESC Congress in Barcelona. The resultant

BCIS position statement was subsequently replicated by the USFDA. The expanded format of the January Advanced AngioplastyMeeting, adopted in 2006, continued successfully in 2007 withan opening day of live case transmissions (Left Main Stem 5Plus) hosted by Dr Adrian Banning of Oxford, followed by twodays of didactic presentations, debate and the ever popularinteractive angioplasty review sessions. Outstanding keynotepresentations from the invited international faculty, ProfessorsAlec Vahanian (Paris), Antonio Colombo (Milan) and MauriceBuchbinder (California), were greatly appreciated by the record760 delegates. The increasing standing of BCIS on the worldstage was also recognised in its continuing contribution tointernational collaborative research, and its growing educationalpresence at key global events, notably EuroPCR and TCT, thepremier European and US interventional meetings.

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Dr Keith Dawkins, Past President BCIS speaking at ASC 2006


British Congenital Cardiac Association (BCCA)President: Dr John Gibbs

BCCA’s sessions at the BCS 2006 AnnualScientific Conference (on adult congenital services and Ebstein’s anomaly) as well as our own 2006 AnnualScientific Meeting, held in November at Bath, were verysuccessful and had their highest attendances yet. At the 2007 BCS meeting, the BCCA will be involved in sessions onthe aortic valve, the right heart, pacing in congenital diseaseand lifestyle issues in heart disease. The November 2007meeting of the BCCA (Leeds) will include sessions on specialisttraining, assessment and workforce planning, on anomalouspulmonary venous drainage, on innovation in cardiac surgeryand hybrid transcatheter/surgical treatment of hypoplastic leftheart syndrome.

During the last year, discussions and a meeting have been heldwith the DoH to discuss reconfiguration of tertiary congenitalcardiac services. With increasing subspecialisation, many of the13 UK centres still being relatively small and with the inescapableimminent effect of the EU Working Time Directive, it is clear thatround the clock provision of specialist services in most centreswill no longer be viable. Reconfiguration is inevitable and theDoH is working with BCCA, patient support groups and SHArepresentatives to take this forward. Currently work is beingundertaken to map demographics of the tertiary services inorder to plan where a smaller number of much larger centresmight be placed. Unfortunately this seems to be progressingvery slowly.

BCCA’s work in promoting high quality care for adults withcongenital heart disease has intensified. In particular we havebeen striving to attain the standards and recommendations of the DoH publications on ACHD services and the DoHresponse to the Bristol Inquiry (PCCSR). The BCCA’s closeassociation with CCAD has led to a drive for more reliable and comprehensive national audit data on treatment of ACHD,which should help to drive quality assurance. A joint documentcontaining governance recommendations from the BCCA, BCISand BCS will be circulated later this year.

The congenital CCAD project has been progressing steadily; a web based Public Portal (showing centre specific mortality forthe most common procedures) is at a consultation stage now,with a planned date for open access to the public by June. This will include data on adults with congenital heart disease as well as children.

Our progress on our efforts to introduce telemedicine/internetbased learning by live transmission of core curriculum lecturesto all centres has been slow for both technical and financialreasons. We are making some headway by investigating thepotential of a web archive of recorded lectures for access byBCS members and hosted on the BCS servers. We remain indiscussion with Connecting for Health and N3 administrationabout future high-tech possibilities.

The Association’s next task is to concentrate on major concernsover consultant staffing. Despite the impact of the Bristol Inquiryon many specialties, it has had negligible beneficial effect onimproving resources for congenital cardiac services! We remain

very far short of the DoH approved staffing levels suggested bythe BCS workforce committee in 2001 (2 paediatric cardiologistsper million population), let alone the revised recommendation of3 per million in 2005. Financial difficulties at Trusts and PCTshave led to a dearth of new posts despite current consultantsworking excessive hours and redundancy potentially looming for trainees due to complete their training. The Association hasalready communicated its fears over the current status to theRCP and the National Directors. These concerns will inevitablyincrease with the introduction of MMC in the summer and theextra time required for much more rigorous trainee assessment.Few consultants have specified time in their job plans for theseactivities, yet neither MMC nor PMETB appear to have seriouslyconsidered these issues. There is a widespread feeling that the new assessments simply will not happen withoutconsultant expansion.

The BCCA continues to work with other affiliated groups. In thelast year a joint committee with BSE has drafted suggestions onaccreditation for echocardiographers who have a subspecialtyinterest in children with heart disease and we hope formally toimplement accreditation this year. There also seems strongsupport for a UK based accreditation for specialist congenitalheart disease echocardiographers rather than relying on thenew, complex system introduced by the ESC/EAE.

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HCP (UK) continues to perform a uniquely

important function through its affiliation with the

BCS. Over the past year, the Society has strived

to develop enhanced patient involvement in all

of its activities.

Heart Care Partnership UK (HCP UK)Chair: Mr David Geldard

2006 has seen membership of HCP (UK)continue to grow, particularly with most of the English cardiac networks joining our ranks. In return we were able to provide enthusiasticsupport and empirical evidence to justify theircontinuity when their imminent future wasuncertain at the turn of the year.

As the patient arm of the BCS we have nointention of attempting to usurp the role of the BHF or any of the other patient orientatedsupport groups that flourish across the country.Rather we see ourselves, as our title suggests,acting in a partnership capacity where ourcloseness to the BCS and its wide-rangingaffiliated groups provide increased opportunitiesfor the needs and interests of patients to be woven into theoverall aspirations of the Society. In this way we have receivedenthusiastic and supportive cooperation from a wide range of organisations and groups, many of which are represented on our Trustee Board. These include the BHF, the networksthemselves, the Arrhythmia Alliance, SADS (UK), GUCH,STARS, paediatric groups such as Little Hearts Matter and, of course, the clinicians in the widest sense of the word,represented by our clinical lead, the effervescent Dr Jane Flint.

As a result of these developments, our trustees are involved in a vast range of local, regional, national and international CVD activities including cooperative deliberations with strokenetworks as they, too, launch into reshaping their care pathways.

In the main, however, mostof our work has been withinthe Society, providing apatient perspective on BCSactivities or on issues wherethe Society has been askedfor its considered view, and promoting patientempowerment througheducation and training.Most of our regular contacthas been with BACR,BANCC and BSE; we arealso sharing a joint sessionon women’s cardiac healthwith BANCC at the BCSAnnual Scientific Conferencein June. One area of concern

for our group is the need to revitalise cardiac rehabilitation andwe are throwing ourselves into the forthcoming campaign toraise the profile of rehabilitation across the country. We aredelighted with the recent, significant promotion, fronted by theBHF, on chest pain and emergency call-out, something forwhich we have lobbied for some time. We are equally delightedthat the National Director for CHD, Professor Roger Boyle, wasasked to take a wider brief to include Stroke.

HCP (UK) is still a young group, but we are keen to do well for the BCS and the patients we all serve. If other groups and committees within the Society feel they would welcome ourinvolvement, please ask. We have been made most welcomeby the Society and its members and that is a credit to you all.

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Invited by the Prime Minister to visit 10 Downing Streetare David Geldard (Chairman, Heartcare PartnershipUK); Debbie Hughes (Past President, BANCC) andProfessor Roger Boyle (National Clinical Director forHeart Disease and Stroke).

David arrives at Number 10!


National Infarct Angioplasty ProjectIn 2003 the DoH’s ‘Heart Team’ was asked by the PrimeMinister’s Delivery Unit (PMDU) to develop a clear policy forexpanding primary angioplasty (PPCI) for acute myocardialinfarction. £1m of funding was allocated for pilot work to beundertaken in England. In collaboration with BCS and BCIS, a Working Group was subsequently established under the co-chairmanship of Roger Boyle and Huon Gray.

During 2004, the scope of the project, its governanceframework, and the dataset to be collected were defined, andexpressions of interest from centres wishing to participate wereinvited. Pilot sites were chosen on the basis of their commitmentand perceived ability to collect data, and to reflect differentgeographical settings and thereby a variety of service models.Seven PPCI services were selected: Royal Devon and Exeter,South Tees (James Cook University Hospital, Middlesborough),West Yorkshire (Leeds General Infirmary), Greater Manchester(MRI and Wythenshawe), South East London (King’s, Barts andthe Royal London), West London (Hammersmith, St Mary’s,Harefield). Patient recruitment began in April 2005 and ended in March 2006. Data on over 2,200 patients with STEMI wererecorded, approximately two thirds being admitted directly to a PPCI centre and one third after initial assessment to a non-PPCI centre. One year follow-up data collection finished inMarch 2007. Over the last few months considerable effort has been expended on data validation and analysis by theProject’s Data Oversight Group, under the chairmanship of Mark de Belder.

The project was bolstered by the involvement of the ‘NHSService Delivery and Organisation (SDO) Research andDevelopment Programme’, who appointed and providedadditional funding to the ‘School of Health and RelatedResearch (ScHARR)’ at the University of Sheffield for the evaluation of the service impacts of delivering PPCI,particularly workforce and costs, and patients’ experiences of this treatment pathway.

It is important to stress that the NIAP was never intended or designed to make a direct comparison between the costeffectiveness of PPCI and thrombolysis; it was accepted thatgood trial data had already established that PPCI could besuperior to thrombolysis in circumstances where they couldboth be administered in a timely manner. The purpose of thisobservational project has been to establish the feasibility ofrolling out a PPCI service within England, the barriers to such a development, different models of delivery, patients’experiences, and the likely costs and service implications thatwould be encountered. At the outset, it was also stressed thatthe existence of the NIAP should not generate ‘planning blight’and that Networks embarking on the development of a PPCIservice based on the results of clinical trials should not delay its implementation simply because further UK data shouldbecome available from the NIAP in 2007/8.

An interim report will be submitted to the DoH and BCS laterthis summer. There will be a final report following completion ofScHARR’s evaluation early in 2008. Data relating to the hospitaladmission of the patient cohort will be presented, for its firsttime, at the BCS Annual Scientific Conference in Glasgow inJune 2007.

Our thanks go to Mark De Belder for his hard work on the data,to Sue Dodd who has managed the project for the DoH and allwho have contributed to the NIAP – particularly those ProjectManagers and Clinical Leads in the pilot sites who have workedso hard to collect the data and to those who now have the taskof its analysis and reporting.

Dr Huon GrayBCS Past-President (2003-5)

Dr Roger BoyleNational Director for Heart Disease and Stroke

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Working Groups and Other Reports


Practitioners with a special interest in cardiology Chair: Dr Mark Dancy

This working group of the BCS was set up in May 2006 andasked to make recommendations as to whether the Societyshould take on the role of accrediting the training of practitionerswith a special interest in cardiology. The issue arose out of workthat the NHS Heart Improvement Programme had undertaken to define a national framework for training of this group ofhealthcare workers and which was published in January 2007(www.heart.nhs.uk/documents). Concern had also beenraised by members of the Society that they were being askedto accredit PwSI without any clear guidance as to the trainingrequirements for such posts. Some PwSI were takingrecognised diploma courses, but there was no consistentnational approach to training.

This issue is not peculiar to cardiology, and indeed otherspecialties have also been working in this area, and some have produced recommendations, although none are ascrystallised as the cardiological work to date. There is also aDoH working party addressing the issue of PwSI accreditationacross all specialties and this is due to report in March 2007.

The working group had strong input from the affiliated groups, as the recommendations were likely to affect manyother groups of healthcare workers apart from cardiologists,particularly nurses. It met on three occasions and its report was presented to Council in March. Regular updates from the working party have been provided to the RCP through the Joint Specialty Committee.

The issues that came up in discussion and which wereconsidered by Council were as follows:

• Is accreditation of PwSI necessary?

• What are the advantages of accreditation for patients?

• Should the Society be involved at all in the process ofaccreditation of PwSI?

• Is any other body better placed to take on this role?

• If the Society were to take on this role, what form wouldaccreditation take?

• What would be the advantages to the Society of assumingthis role?

• What would be the financial cost to the Society and itsmembers of taking on this role?

• What would be the advantages of a more formalaccreditation process to the healthcare economy as a whole(including the PwSI, the commissioners and privateproviders)?

• What is the legal and statutory position in regards to a charitytaking on this role?

• What would be the Society’s position be in relation to other,more traditional statutory bodies such as the GMC?

Women’s Heart HealthChair: Dr Jane Flint

The Working Group has brought together several enthusiasticfaculties presenting work on cardiovascular and other heartdisease in women during the last eighteen months, along withparticularly supportive affiliated groups, to summarise 12 keyrecommendations on prevention and management. A jointaffiliated groups’ session under the auspices of BANCC, with HCP UK, BACR, and BHF sponsorship, is being heldduring the ASC on 6th June to explore implementation. A fulldocument is in preparation and acknowledgement will be madeof all significant contributions.

The recommendations cover awareness and education ongender-specific issues in cardiovascular disease, in particular risk assessment in women including those of reproductive age, referral for appropriate investigation of symptoms whereheart disease cannot be excluded, and diversity impactassessment of care pathways, with development of individualisedcare plans.

A national registry of all cardiac patients is recommended.Women should be proportionately represented in clinical trials,and gender-specific research encouraged where necessary. TheRCOG’s 51st Study Group recommendations on managementof pregnancy in women with heart disease will be recognised.Gender-sensitive cardiac prevention and rehabilitation withcounselling on psychosocial issues should be reflected incommissioning statements reviewed in all Cardiac Networks to optimise services or women with heart disease and reduceany remaining inequalities with regard to age, disability, ethnicityor gender.

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Non-medical Catheter Laboratory StaffingChair: Dr Robert Henderson

In recent years the number of catheter laboratories hasincreased across the United Kingdom, but there has not been acommensurate increase in the number of non-medical catheterlaboratory staff. The Working Group on Non-medical CatheterLaboratory Staffing has been examining this issue and a reportfrom the Working Group is now available on the BCS website.The Working Group included representatives from all relevantprofessional groups and the report has the support of theSociety of Radiographers, Royal College of Nursing, BritishAssociation for Nursing in Cardiac Care, Society for CardiologicalScience and Technology, and Heart Rhythm UK.

Reliable information about the non-medical catheter laboratoryworkforce is very limited but a survey carried out by theWorking Group estimated that there are currently 2095 whole-time-equivalent non-medical catheter laboratory staff (nurses,radiographers, and physiologists) at 170 United Kingdomhospitals. The survey also estimated that there are 303 vacantcatheter laboratory staff posts and existing staffing levels areunlikely to meet future demand for catheter laboratory work.The shortage of cardiac physiologists is of particular concern as these staff are also required for rhythm management andechocardiography services, and training capacity for thisprofession is insufficient to meet the growing demand.

The ideal solution to staffing problems in catheter laboratories is to increase the supply of appropriately trained professionalstaff, and this will require concerted action at local, regional and

national levels. In addition the existing workforce could be supported by greater use of unregistered staff and with appropriate training the role of these staff in catheterlaboratories could be expanded.

The flexibility of the catheter laboratory workforce could also beincreased by extending the roles of existing staff and a numberof hospitals across the United Kingdom are developing trainingprogrammes to ‘multi-skill’ catheter laboratory workers. There isa need to coordinate these projects and to develop a consistentapproach to multi-skilling so that staff can acquire competencesthat are transferable between institutions. To facilitate thisprocess the Working Group has identified the knowledge andtasks required for multi-skilling of each of the professional groupsinvolved in catheter laboratory work.

The Working Group report also recommended that the BritishCardiovascular Society:

• establishes a national database of the non-medicalcardiology workforce

• recognises the urgent need to address the imbalancebetween current training capacity and likely future demandfor cardiac physiologists

• actively explores options to increase the size and flexibility of the non-medical catheter laboratory workforce

• recognises the need for and supports investment in training programmes for the non-medical catheter laboratory workforce.

National Variations in Cardiac ServicesChair: Dr Nicholas Boon

This group was set up in response to concerns that thedevolved nations had been disadvantaged by exclusion from the National Service Framework. The first report (BritishJournal of Cardiology 2005; 12: 192-8) identified clear evidenceof important variations in the provision, activity and planning of cardiac services between the four home nations, that werenot related to differences in need.

The second report (Heart 2006; 92: 873 – 878) extended thesefindings by providing 5-year trend analyses and additional dataon services, such as echocardiography, that were not includedin the first report.

Council has requested an annual report from the NationalVariations Group because, at this stage, it is not clear if theseanomalies will persist or even increase as health care divergesacross the United Kingdom. Moreover, the work should help to inform planning and identify the most effective policies.

This year’s report is in preparation and will provide an update on core data such as spending, mortality, staffing and procedurerates. We also hope, with the help of the BACR, to examinevariations in the provision of cardiac rehabilitation.

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Women in CardiologyChair: Dr Jane Flint

The 2006 survey of Cardiology Training Committee Chairs hasfound women now to comprise 18.6% of trainees, although the RCP 2005 Census found women to constitute just 8.3% ofConsultants. Congratulations go to five committees – Anglia,Wales, Wessex, SE and SW Scotland – which have alreadyachieved the 2006/7 goal of 25% women trainees. The numberof flexible trainees has increased from 10 to 15 during the lastyear. 14 of 22 Chairs accept the future reality of flexible workingpractices. Five Chairs only have counselled colleagues aboutsexist attitudes. Only six always include a woman on allappointments’ committees, a figure which I hope will increase in the future. The proposed mentoring network was welcomedlast year but has not been used significantly. The ‘Women’sNetwork’ resource should be disseminated to encourageTraining committee election as well as reference forAppointments Committees.

Important nominations of women this year include ProfessorJennifer Adgey to a new Elections Committee of BCS, Dr TheresaMcDonagh as SAC member with particular concern for womentrainees, and Professor Dame Carol Black who has graciouslyaccepted Trustee status on the Board of BCS.

Recommendations of the Women’s Network

Council was supportive of the following recommendations at its October meeting:

• action points from the 2005 Working Party report should be widely supported

• the ‘Women’s Network’ is disseminated for use not only for mentoring but also for Appointments’ Committees,encouragement for Training Committee election

• Medical Schools should be made aware of our recruitmentdrive as well as junior doctors F1, F2, ST1, ST2 withinitiatives

• Council will accept annual survey, receive regular reportsand recommendations

Our data are shared with the developing European and GlobalNetworks for women in cardiology.

Myocardial Infarction National Audit ProjectThe Myocardial Infarction National Audit Project (MINAP) hasdeveloped into the largest national registry of its kind, containinginformation on approximately 500,000 episodes of acutecoronary syndrome. During the past year, the project team has moved from offices in the Royal College of Physicians ofLondon to the National Institute for Clinical Outcomes Researchat The Heart Hospital (UCL). The 5th public report on ‘How theNHS Manages Heart Attacks’ was published in June 2006 andconfirmed satisfactory performance by most hospitals withrespect to the provision of timely thrombolytic and secondarypreventative therapies. A further revision of the dataset hasbeen released. The MINAP Academic Group, led by ProfessorAdam Timmis, has approved research proposals, involvinganalysis of the database, from a number of research groupsand clinicians throughout Britain. It is hoped that as a result of this activity, and later publications in peer-reviewed journals,MINAP will be recognised to be of value both for audit andresearch purposes. Initial publications suggest that patients with acute coronary syndromes have a better prognosis whenadmitted under the care of cardiologists (BMJ 2006;332:1306-1311) and that insulin infusion for the correction of hyperglycaemiain non-diabetic patients is associated with greater chance ofsurvival (Heart – accepted for publication).

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Dr Raphael Balcon, Past President, with Professor Celia Oakley, who was awarded a MacKenzie Medal in 2006


Over the coming year a number of important problems will needresolution. How will MINAP manage ‘data collection fatigue’;MINAP continues to move towards the collection of informationon all manifestations of acute coronary syndrome – rather thanjust ST-elevation myocardial infarction – at a time of financialconstraints within Trusts? How can an increasingly complicated‘patient journey’ be captured; involving linkage of datasetsbetween transferring and receiving hospitals, between catheterlaboratories and cardiac care units? Are existing performanceindicators (audit standards) adequate to describe the care ofthose admitted with acute myocardial infarction?

In these, and other aspects, BCS is closely involved – thePresident is a member of the MINAP Steering Group, theClinical Director of MINAP and his Associate are both membersof BCS, as are most of the members of the Academic Group –as such the BCS continues to encourage its members andaffiliates to participate in MINAP. Anyone who wishes to putforward a research proposal to the Academic Group may do so via Professor Timmis.

Dr Clive WestonClinical Director

HeartEditorship of Heart passed to me in January 2007. I wasfortunate to be taking over from Professor Roger Hall a journalthat has seen enormous progress over recent years withsteadily increasing submissions from around the world, anacceptance rate for original articles of only 17% and a rise in its impact factor to 3.79 – the 6th consecutive yearly increase.Heart is now firmly established among the top cardiac journalsin the world.

One hesitates to tinker with such a well ordered machine andthe new editorial team will continue to play to the main strengthsof the journal: clinical cardiac research and education – whileencouraging submissions across the full cardiovascular spectrum.However important changes are also envisaged as follows:

• Scientific letters will be discontinued

• Featured editorials from internationally acclaimed experts will provide a window for recently published work that isshaping their opinions

• A focused correspondence section will return to the paper journal

• A new Technology and Guidelines section will be introducedto provide an accessible guide for new and emergingtechnologies with clear evidence-based assessment ofclinical value. We will also endeavour to provide timelyresponses to cardiac technology assessments to coincidewith their publication by NICE

• An occasional medico-legal and ethical section will beestablished

• A series of articles reflecting the global challenge ofcardiovascular disease will be commissioned.

In all these endeavours, I will be supported by John Sanderson,my deputy editor, plus other members of a new editorial teamselected for its wisdom and joined by a common enthusiasm to see Heart thrive as one of the leading international journals of clinical cardiology.

Professor Adam TimmisEditor of Heart

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The President signing the Heart contract with Dr Stella Dutton, Chief Executive BMJ Publishing Group


The Clinical Standards Division was born during 2006, althoughit has been gestating over several years! It was preceded by theClinical Practice Committee and various predecessor committees,the Cardiac Workforce Working Groups and Committees, andthe Professional Standards and Peer Review Committee. Dr Nicholas Boon has been acting Vice-President for ClinicalStandards during 2006, and Dr David Hackett was elected to serve as Vice-President for Clinical Standards for 2007-10.

Areas of historical responsibility in the Clinical StandardsDivision include advice and recommendations about cardiacworkforce requirements. The BCS peer review scheme hasbeen in existence for many years, was extensively revamped in 2001, and has undertaken many professional peer reviewvisits to cardiac units in hospitals since then. Within anincreasing regulatory framework and with more statutoryinspections, the demand for peer reviews has declined in recent years. The BCS Clinical Practice Committee reviews and advises on the increasing number of national guidelines,particularly from the European Society of Cardiology, as well as technical appraisals from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, and other national professionalpolicies and pronouncements.

New areas of responsibility for the Clinical Standards Divisionwill include clinical standards for individual revalidation (re-licensure and re-certification). Several areas of responsibilityoverlap with the Training Division. A Divisional strategy reviewday in spring 2007 examined how BCS should address the future cardiac workforce and training requirements, how BCS should assess the future demand and need forcardiovascular services in the UK, and explored potential areas for collaboration between BCS and with the British HeartFoundation. Subsequently the Clinical Standards Division willdefine the most appropriate committee structure to deliverthese responsibilities.

Clinical Practice CommitteeThe main area of activity for the Committee is to facilitate thereview of guidelines and technical appraisals produced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, theEuropean Society of Cardiology and other professional groups.In the past year, the Committee has reviewed 7 guidelines, 6 technical appraisals and 3 reviews from NICE, as well as 5 consultation documents from other organisations such as the Department of Health. We are grateful for the invaluablehelp and advice from individual experts and Affiliated Groups.

The Committee has led BCS in producing an agreed jointMemorandum of Understanding with the Health CareCommission. This Memorandum of Understanding is intendedto identify our respective practices in the area of regulation andreview of cardiovascular practice; areas where we will use ourdifferent approaches; and areas where we might cooperate inthe future. There are ongoing discussions with the NationalClinical Assessment Service about areas of interest suitable for mutual cooperation.

As part of the new Clinical Standards Division we are currentlyundertaking a strategic review of its expected activities andpriorities for action over the next few years.

24

Divisional Reports: Clinical Standards Division


Cardiac Workforce CommitteeThe BCS Cardiac Workforce Committee was formed in 2004;there were two separate Cardiac Workforce Working Groups in 2003 and early 2004 preceding the committee. The CardiacWorkforce Committee published a report “Cardiac workforcerequirements in the UK” in July 2005 which was well receivedby all involved in planning the cardiac workforce needs in theUK. The methodology used in this paper has been generallyaccepted by all stakeholders in workforce planning in the UK as the best to assess the clinical workforce needs. While theestimated needs for the consultant cardiologist workforceremains broadly unchanged, the requirement for the non-medical cardiac workforce in the UK now requires review. The BCS Executive has decided to disband the BCS CardiacWorkforce Committee in 2007, and to subsume its work intothe new committee structure of the Clinical Standards Division.BCS would like to thank all those members who contributed to the hard work of the Cardiac Workforce Committee from2004 to 2007.

Professional Standards and Peer Review CommitteeThe BCS Professional Standards and Peer Review Committeewas set up in 2001 to direct the BCS peer review scheme. Intotal, 21 peer reviews were requested and undertaken from2000 to 2006. The document “Lessons from peer review:summary of findings from the BCS Peer Review scheme 2001-03” was published by BCS in 2004. But the demand forprofessional Peer Reviews has declined more recently, perhapswith the increasing formal NHS regulation and inspectionundertaken these days. With the establishment of the ClinicalStandards Division, the BCS Executive has decided to disbandthe BCS Professional Standards and Peer Review Committee in 2007, and to subsume its work into the new committeestructure of the Clinical Standards Division. BCS would like tothank all those members who contributed to the hard work ofthe Professional Standards and Peer Review Committee from2001 to 2007.

Dr David HackettVice-President Elect, Clinical Standards

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BCS and affiliated group guidelines published by Heart


Annual Scientific Conference2006 Annual Scientific Conference was held in Glasgow between24 and 27 April. The meeting built on the format developedover the past few years, starting with Training and CPD andthen in the second half of the meeting mixing these with Researchpresentations. In 2006 the Young Research Workers’ Prize (YRWP)presentations competed with other sessions in the programme,but attendance at this important session remained strong.

Abstract acceptance continues to rise with 49% in 2006 andthis has been increased further to 55% for 2007 meeting.

Attendance at the meeting was slightly down from previousyears with a total of 2,740 delegates (see figure). Abstractsubmissions were only slightly reduced on 2005. Reduction inattendance, if sustained, is a cause for concern. At this stage,where it is not possible to identify any patterns within theattendance data, it is only possible to speculate on the reasonfor such reductions. Some informal feedback that has beenreceived identifies difficulties with the demands of clinical workthat make attendance at meetings more difficult. Location maybe important and it is possible that Glasgow as a venue maypresent travel problems that make dipping into the meeting fora single day impossible.

The Annual Scientific Conference remains the main incomesource for the BCS (see report from Vice President, Corporateand Financial Affairs on p.28). The Society will have to keep a close watch on both member attendance and exhibitorattendance. Continued reduction in attendance by both ofthese has the potential to expose the Society to financial risk.

Programme CommitteeThe Programme Committee has responsibility for organising theAnnual Scientific Conference. Elections were held this year andtwo new members of the committee were elected; TonyGershlick and Barbara Casadei. The committee has preparedthe programme for the 2007 meeting in Glasgow. The meetingwill be in Manchester in 2008. At this meeting the BritishSociety for Cardiovascular Research (BSCR) will hold one oftheir meetings within the main BCS meeting. This is a positivemove on the part of the BCS to augment the basic sciencecontent and interest at the meeting. It is anticipated that theBritish Atherosclerosis Society will trial a similar “meeting withina meeting” at the 2009 BCS ASC. The 2009 meeting will be in London at the Excel Exhibition centre in Dockland. This isbooked only for one year but will allow the assessment of athird city for the Annual Scientific Conference.

Academic and Research Committee The BCS Fellowship Scheme is expanding and continues to attract very high quality candidates.

The current Fellows are:

Dr N L Mills (BCS/Professor Michael Davies Research Fellow;Aug 05 to July 07)

Dr N Melikian (BCS/Professor John Parker Research Fellow;May 05 to April 07)

Mr A Ali (BCS/Astra Zeneca Research Fellow; Jan 07 to Dec 08)

Dr R Khurana was appointed to the BCS/Swire CardiacFellowship in March 2006 but sadly could not take up the postbecause of a family illness.

Three new fellowships, including a new BCS/Bristol-Myers-Squibb fellowship, will be appointed in March 2007. Theseposts are intended to support research training in either clinicalor basic cardiac science and will fund the successful applicants’salary for up to 3 years. Fears that trainees might be deterredfrom research by the uncertainty surrounding the introduction ofMMC have not materialised because the Society has received28 high quality applications for these awards.

The original Grants Fellowships and Awards Committee hasbeen disbanded. The Academic and Research Committee(Chairman – Professor Hugh Watkins) will administer the BCSFellowship Scheme from now on.

Education CommitteeThe Education Committee has had responsibility for thedevelopment of the Knowledge Based Exam (KBA), educationon the website, approval of meetings and the organisation of regional education for the SpRs. With the re-organisation of the BCS into a divisional structure, a number of these crossboundaries between different divisions. It has been decided tosuspend the Education Committee; the KBA team will move to the Training Division, web-based education will become part of the Information and Surveys Committee and the issue ofregional education will be dealt with by establishing a workinggroup to report on this important issue. Approval of meetingswill be dealt with by the Executive.

Professor David CrossmanVice President, Education and Research

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Education and Research Division

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Registration at the Annual Scientific Conference over the last 5 years


BCS members will recall that the Society’s Policy Document – A Strategy for Change, envisioned the clarification anddevelopment of the views of cardiologists in relation to trainingissues. Other specialist societies such as the Association ofNeurologists, have such a constitution. Contemplation of thecurrent scene, where PMETB, MMC and the MTAS form allhave important effects on training matters, emphasises theneed for the specialty of cardiovascular medicine to have aneffective voice.

Historically the Cardiology SAC has always had a very clearview about the separate identity of cardiology as a specialty as distinct from General Medicine. It is, however, worth notingthat PMETB, the body accountable to Parliament, describesMedicine as a specialty, as distinct from General Practice, andtherefore regards cardiology as a subspecialty. The areas oftraining which concern cardiologists include the maintenance of national standards in General and Subspecialty cardiology, the methods of assessing trainees, and therefore the mechanismby which they are “accredited” and the process of selection intoboth cardiology and subspecialties.

In general, with a new institution, it makes sense to decide onthe functions and then develop a structure that reflects these.For the Training Division, it will be important that its activitiesdovetail with those of the SAC. Both bodies should have theinterests of trainees and trainers as their primary objective. The structure of the SAC in future, will have a balance ofrepresentatives from the clinical subspecialties together with

elected geographical representatives. The SAC will be thestatutory interface between the Postgraduate Medical Educationand Training Board (PMETB), its educational policies, and thespecialty. The new Joint Royal College of Physicians TrainingBoard (JRCPTB,) will replace the previous JCHMT which dealtwith Registrar training issues, and the JCGPT, the body thatdealt with general professional training which involved the SHO grade.

There clearly is scope for a BCS based body which isgeographically representative and formulates opinions relating to training issues in Cardiovascular Medicine. The first meeting of this group will take place on Monday 4 June2007 at the Annual Scientific Conference of BCS.

There are specific areas of training that self evidently requiredetailed input from cardiologists. Of these, the most importantwill be the specialty examination. This is likely to become arequirement from PMETB and in a practical specialty such ascardiology, it will be important to establish that the examinationis mid term rather than exit. The intellectual work to be donewith respect to a specialty examination properly lies with BCS,and Dr Tony Mourant will continue to lead this project for thenext three years.

As the MTAS debacle illustrates, there will be an ongoing need for the specialty of cardiology to have a concerted view on issues relating to selection into cardiology as well as selection into the subspecialty components of the final

two years of cardiology training. The Training Division hasgenerated a paper on the subject of selection into subspecialty.The SAC have a subcommittee dealing with issues of Selection(called Allocation by MMC) into cardiology.

The arrangements for training and re-accreditation of practitionerswith an interest in cardiology is one of current and future,importance to BCS members. The concept of national standardswould appear to be, from a Cardiological perspective, ofparticular importance in this area of clinical practice. This idea,however, is not universally accepted and the Clinical StandardsDivision will, appropriately, be taking this under its wing infuture.

In times of turbulence and change, I have no doubt that thesteely character and strength of purpose of Professor StuartCobbe will be of enormous value to the Society as he takesover in June 2007 as the Vice President for Training. I am surethat Stuart will find further subjects to tackle within the TrainingDivision. I believe that the BCS Training Division can, in parallelwith the SAC, provide clear views for PMETB and MMC on thesubject of training in cardiovascular medicine. These viewsshould be united and cogent.

Dr Peter MillsVice President, Training

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Training Division


At the end of the last financial year, the Society had a surplus of £168,000 before investment gains of £37,900, which whilsthealthy, is significantly lower than in the previous year when itwas £292,000. This is, as was predicted by my predecessor, largely due to a reduction in revenue from the Annual Scientific Conference (ASC).

The Finance CommitteeThe finances of the Society are monitored and controlled by this Committee: it is chaired by the Vice-President Corporateand Financial Affairs and attended by four Society members,presently, Professor Martin Rothman, Dr Paul Oldershaw,Professor John Deanfield, and Professor Derek Yellon. NicholasKaye represents our accountants (Alexander Edward Lee), andin attendance are our investment advisors from RensburgSheppards. We also receive informed advice from two memberswith much city experience: Graham Meek who has providedskilled counsel for several years and more recently we havebeen joined by Tony Salter. The Committee has recentlyembarked on a more active investment portfolio but decidedagainst pursuing hedge funds as had been suggested in thelast financial report. We have decided that 9 Fitzroy Square, a listed building and our largest financial asset, requires somerefurbishment; to postpone this further would be to encouragethe likelihood of substantial and serious structural deteriorationwhich would allow the value of the asset to drop, necessitatinga bigger investment in future.

Annual Scientific ConferenceIn 2006 the Society’s revenue from the ASC fell by £121,000and we must protect the Society from becoming too dependenton this unpredictable income source. The Executive of theSociety is in close contact with Industry with regard to theirability and willingness to support the Society and fortunatelythere continues to be an enthusiastic desire for this to continue.It is felt, however, that there is a diminished return from theexhibition, largely relating to a significant reduction in opportunitiesfor contact with Society members. The Society is working hardto re-grow this source of support.

The Society now provides financial support for travel andaccommodation for up to 25 basic scientists to enable them to attend the ASC and to present their work. We will in futureprovide up to £10,000 to enable pivotal speakers to present at the ASC. This will enhance the educational experience of the conference and allow groups with little access to externalfunding, for example, to attract speakers of internationalreputation. These funds will be available at the discretion of the Programme Committee.

The Society will this year host a party on the first evening of theASC; we hope that this will be an enjoyable social occasion formembers, other delegates and exhibitors alike to meet in aninformal atmosphere. Please do come and support the BCS at this innovative event. If it is successful, we will do it again.

HeartDuring this year the President signed the contract binding theSociety to BMJ Publishing as co-owners of Heart. This hasbeen a very successful year for the journal: the Society’s shareof the net profits is likely to be about £250,000. On-line accessto the journal is provided free to members and paper Heart isavailable at a much-reduced subscription of £70 to memberswho prefer this format. Your subscription is of course additionallyhelpful to the Society. Please contact Fitzroy Square if you wishto subscribe ([email protected]). Unfortunately, the InlandRevenue now requires VAT to be paid on electronic access to Heart and the Society pays this on behalf of members. The BCS is working very closely with Professor Adam Timmis,the new editor to support his innovative ideas for the journal.

28

Corporate and Financial Affairs


FellowshipsIn March 2007, the Academic and Research Committeeappointed three Fellows: the BCS/Swire and the BCS/BMSFellowships (generously supported by the Swire Trust andBristol Myers Squibb), and the BCS Fellowship. From a strongfield, we have selected excellent fellows whom we expect toshine credit on the Society in time.

MembershipTotal membership continues to increase and now stands at 1426 and we hope this continues to rise. We would asktherefore that members encourage their trainees and consultantcolleagues to join the Society as we are stronger if we aretogether. We need to persuade others that the Society doesmuch good work that includes setting standards, training,advising Government and protecting and supporting memberswho are either in difficulty or seeking promotion in one of thesystems of awards. In future we will be much engaged also in credentialing and assessment.

SummaryThe Society remains financially sound: we have over £1,000,000invested in equities and a similar amount in high interest earningaccounts. We have too great a dependency on the ASC for our revenue and we should seek to increase the income fromsubscriptions paid by our stakeholders who enjoy the benefits of this investment. The success of Heart pleasingly makes this a less pressing requirement. New financial challenges presentthemselves: Knowledge Based Assessment and credentialingwill be mandatory, and the Society is well-placed to providethese. If we get our financial planning right, there are significantopportunities for income from these activities.

Kevin JenningsVice President, Corporate and Financial Affairs

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006Mr Ayyaz Ali receives the BCS/Astra Zeneca Research Fellowshipfrom the President in 2006 Ordinary Members


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British Cardiovascular Society9 Fitzroy Square, London W1T 5HW Tel: + 44 (0)20 7383 3887 Fax: + 44 (0)20 7388 0903 email: [email protected]

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