Summer 2010 - The British Pain Society

is the National Pain Audit (http://
www.nationalpainaudit.org), a
partnership of the Healthcare
Quality Improvement Partnership,
the BPS and Dr Foster, with
Stephen Ward as BPS Lead. It is
important that the data collection
is comprehensive and robust, so
please do ensure that your clinic is
registered and will be supporting
this important activity.
The BPS Strategic Review
This was attended by Council
members and held in February
of this year, was one of the key
activities led by my predecessor.
It generated a number of themes
and aspirations for the Society, two
of which I would particularly like
to highlight:
We are seeking ideas for improved
communication and greater
involvement of members in the
activities of the Society. One
suggestion was that one of the
senior Council members could
attend regional pain meetings for
Q & A sessions, and providing
updates on issues of the day and
an opportunity for discussion.
Please do let us have your ideas
and views.
It was also felt that we should give
thought to the composition of
Council. By the time that you read
this, the General Election will be
a receding memory, but as I write
this in early May, there is much
talk of elections and proportional
representation. This too was
considered in the Strategic Review,
and we will explore methods of
ensuring Council representation
for the major professional groups,
which make up our membership.
Chronic Pain declared a
RCGP Clinical Priority for
2011-2013
This is very exciting news. Martin
Johnson, our long time champion
of pain in Primary Care is to be
congratulated for succeeding in
his application for approval of
Chronic Pain as one of the four
RCGP clinical priorities for three
years from January 2011. This year,
a number of key aims and clinical
priority projects will be developed
in association with the College’s
Clinical Innovation and Research
Centre.
Primary Care SIG
With perfect timing, and hard
on the heels of the RCGP
announcement, Val Conway and
Cathy Price succeeded in their
proposal for a Primary Care SIG,
which was approved by Council
at the meeting following the ASM.
As the new SIG develops, there
is obviously great potential for
collaborative work with the RCGP.
EFIC and EJP
I had the pleasure of spending
the May Day Bank Holiday at the
annual EFIC (European Federation
of IASP Chapters) Council
Meeting, and wish to report on
a couple of items. Just to remind
you that all BPS members are
automatically included in EFIC,
and with this comes free access
to the European Journal of Pain
(EJP), one of the premier journals
in our specialty, via http://www.
europeanjournalpain.com and click
on the EJP registration link.
You will hear more about some
other important areas and
themes over the coming year, as
we intend to focus also on the
issues of Revalidation for doctors
practising pain medicine, and on
the specific needs and interests
of full-time pain doctors. For the
latter, we are reconvening the BPS
Working Group, whose first task
will be to identify this group.
So, we are looking at a busy year
ahead, and I look forward to
reporting on our progress in future
editions. Hopefully, I’ll be writing
the next message while enjoying
the ‘barbecue summer’ that is
predicted!
With kindest regards,
Updated
Understanding and
managing pain:
information for
patients
The British Pain Society’s revised edition of
‘Understanding and managing pain: information for
patients’ is now available.
To download your free copy please go to the
publications section on our website: www.
britishpainsociety/pub_home. Hard copies can be
ordered from the
secretariat.
The British Pain Society
Understanding and managing pain:
information for patients
January 2010
To be reviewed January 2013
PAI N N E W S S U M M E R 2010 7