ROYAL COLLEGE OF RADIOLOGISTS BREAST GROUP
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
East Midlands Conference Centre
5 pm Monday 31st October 2005
Chairman - Dr Peter Britton
Approximately 98 members in attendance
1. Apologies – there were none
2. Minutes of 2004 meeting – were agreed as a correct record
3. Matters arising - not on agenda –
Item 7 - Dr Britton announced there were plans to publish the text of the ASM presentations on the website.
4. Breast Group promotion
UKRC - Dr Erika Denton gave an update on the Breast Group sponsored session at UKRC.
RCR Breast Group Professor - Peter Britton informed the meeting that this had been approved by the college and that applications were invited from any member of the group who felt they could contribute.
SpR Questionnaire – Peter Britton gave a brief resume of the results and encouraged delegates to look at the poster in the Exhibition Hall for more detail.
5. E-contact
Peter reported that we now have the e-mail addresses for the majority of Breast Group members. He encouraged delegates to fill in the slip in the delegate pack requesting an e-mail addresses and explained we would be moving toward e-mail as the prime method of communication within the breast group.
6. Validated Case Archive
Peter introduced Dr Louise Wilkinson from St Georges Breast Unit who has agreed to take on the role of co-ordinator for harvesting breast images for the Archive. It is hoped we can get good enough resolution by digitising mammograms. Very few sites have the facility for acquiring images digitally.
7. Clinical Excellence Awards – Peter gave an update on the process of self- nomination and outlined the way in which the breast group gave support for nominations last year.
8. Website – Dr Chris Flowers was thanked for his efforts on maintaining the website, and was to give a presentation the following day. He will also be available in the exhibition hall during the breaks to demonstrate the website.
9. Critical Incidents – Dr Sue Barter encouraged everyone to look at the poster on the years Critical Incidents, and asked everyone to continue to notify her of incidents or near misses.
10. Treasurer’s Report - Handout of Treasurers report previously circulated.
Simon presented the accounts, and reported total funds of £32,157.13.
11. Breast Group Officers
Peter announced that only one nomination had been received for Vice Chairman; Dr Mike Michell, and welcomed him to the Executive. Dr Sue Barter will come to the end of her second term as secretary in 2006, and therefore nominations will be invited in the spring. Anybody who would like to consider this post and would like a bit more information is encouraged to contact either Sue or Erika.
12. Honorary Membership
Proposals for Honorary members were Professor Anne Tardivon and Dr Tom Walker.
These were unanimously endorsed.
13. Bursary and Pump Priming Grant
Sue Barter reminded everybody that the Bursary of £2500 was available. There had been no applicants for the current year. She also reminded everyone that the Breast Group sponsors a £5000 Pump Priming Grant to be applied for in the usual way from the Royal College of Radiologists. Anybody requiring further information about either of these awards should contact Sue Barter. Dr Penelope Gordon pointed out that she had been interested in applying for a Pump Priming Grant, but that literature from the College had suggested that these were only available to recently appointed consultants, or SpRs. The Executive promised to explore this with the College.
14. 2006 Annual Scientific Meeting
This was announced and will be held in Edinburgh on Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th November 2006. Janet invited suggestions for speakers and topics, and urged everyone to fill in their feedback forms for this meeting, since it is the suggestions on those feedback forms that we take forward.
15. Any Other Business
a) Concerns were raised by many over the very great threat posed by privatisation of the Devon and Exeter screening service. Particular concerns were voiced over the manner in which adjacent screening services had been threatened and the role of QA. A lively discussion ensued with an agreement reached that the Group should express its concerns at the highest level. Erika Denton agreed to make strong representation on our behalf to Julietta Pattnick and the Department of Health. It was also agreed that we would publish her letter to the above on the website. Action ED
b) Special Interest Group (SIG) Memorandum of Understanding from the RCR was outlined by Peter and discussed.
c) Erika outlined her new role as Department of Health Imaging Lead and explained how she will delegate to other members of the executive in any situation where there is a potential conflict of interest.
The meeting closed at about 6 pm.
Date of next meeting
6th November 2006, Edinburgh