Council agenda

British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 

Council – Thursday 7 July 2016 

1230-1530hrs, BSAC, 53 Regent Place, Birmingham, B1 3NJ 

AGENDA 

INTERACTIVE AGENDA – PLEASE CLICK PAGE NUMBERS TO NAVIGATE 

1 Welcome, apologies, future meetings and declarations of interest 

Welcome: 

Dr Susan Hopkins; Professor William Hope; Dr Carole Fry; Dr Timothy Walsh, 

Ordinary Members of Council 

Dr Gavin Barlow – Officer for Stewardship and Surveillance 

Via teleconference: 

Mark Gilchrist 

Apologies: 

Professor Kate Gould; Dr Paul Long; Dr Kieran Hand 

Future meetings: 

2016: Tuesday 11 October 

2017: Tuesday 17 January 

Tuesday 14 March – SPRING CONFERENCE & AGM, London 

Tuesday 11 April 

Thursday 6 July 

Tuesday 10 October 

All meetings to be held 1230-1530hrs at BSAC HQ 

Declarations 

Trustees are asked to declare any interests they have in any item under discussion 

and, where deemed necessary, leave the room during discussion 

2 Minutes of the last meeting 

To receive the unconfirmed minutes of the meeting held 21 April2016 Pages 4-14 

3 Matters arising 

4 Finances 

Presented by: Honorary Treasurer, Conor Jamieson (unless otherwise stated) 

4a 

Verbal report on the potential impact of the result of the EU Referendum 

1

4b To note the process for approval of the BSAC budget 2016-2017 

4c 

BSAC investment property, 11 The Wharf, Birmingham – to receive a report on an 

approach to purchase Page 15 

5 Stewardship and surveillance 

5a 

Working internationally: Update on collaborations in India, Russia, Africa and China 

Presented by: President, Dilip Nathwani OBE 

5b 

UK OPAT Initiative – to receive a verbal report on discussions held 30 June regarding 

re-development of the National Outcomes Registry and Patient Management System 

Presented by: Co-chair of the UK OPAT Initiative, Mark Gilchrist 

5c BSAC & European Wound Management Association Stewardship Initiative Page 16 

6 Education and events 

6a e-Learning – to consider a report outlining planned activity and assembly of faculty Page 17 

Presented by: President, Dilip Nathwani OBE 

6b 

To receive a verbal report on a recent meeting held to discuss the future of the FIS 

Conference and note the business model proposed by BSAC for 2017 Page 18-20 

Presented by: CEO, Tracey Guise 

6c FOR INFORMATION: To receive a report on forthcoming BSAC events Pages 21-22 

Presented by: Meetings Secretary, Brendan Healy 

7 Public Engagement 

Presented by: Chair in Public Engagement, Laura Piddock 

7a To consider a written report on public engagement activities Pages 23-26 

7b To receive a report on the initial meeting of the EURAMET AntiMicroResis Project Page 27 

8 Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 

Presented by: Editor in Chief, Peter Donnelly 

8a To receive the unconfirmed minutes of the Publication Committee meeting held Pages 28-33 

April 2016 

2

8b 

To receive a verbal report on journal matters 

9 Standards/guideline development 

Presented by: Executive Officer, Tracey Guise on behalf of General Secretary, Kate Gould 

FOR INFORMATION: To receive a position statement on groups in progress Pages 34-35 

10 BSAC Funding Programme 

To receive the minutes of the meeting of Grants Committee held 11 May and note 

outcome of funding considerations Pages 36-41 

11 Membership 

Presented by: Executive Officer, Tracey Guise on behalf of General Secretary, Kate Gould 

To consider nominations for election to Membership of the Society Page 42 

12 Any other business 

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Unconfirmed minutes if the meeting of BSAC Council 

held Thursday 21 April 2016 

Present: 

Co-opted: 

In attendance: 

Professor Dilip Nathwani OBE (Chair) 

Dr Nicholas Brown, Vice President 

Dr Conor Jamieson, Honorary Treasurer 

Mr Mark Gilchrist, Ordinary Member 

Enrique Castro-Sanchez – Ordinary Members of Council 

Dr Natasha Ratnaraja, Ordinary Member 

Dr Sanjay Patel, Ordinary Member 

Professor Peter Donnelly, JAC Editor in Chief 

Professor Laura Piddock, Chair in Public Engagement 

Dr Cliodna McNulty, Co-opted member 

Mr Colin Drummond, Editorial Manager 

Mrs Tracey Guise, Chief Executive Officer 

Apologies: 

Professor Kate Gould, General Secretary 

Dr Gavin Barlow – Officer for Stewardship and Surveillance 

Dr Brendan Healy, Meetings Secretary 

Dr Paul Long, Grants Secretary 

Dr Tamara Schneider, Ordinary Member 

Professor Andrew Pearson, Co-opted 

Dr Timothy Walsh, Ordinary Member 

Professor William Hope, Ordinary Member 

Dr Sanjay Patel, Ordinary Member 

C/16/15 

Welcome and apologies for absence 

The Chair welcomed members to the meeting, in particular Dr Sanjay Patel in attendance for the 

first time. Apologies for absence were NOTED. 

C/16/16 

Future meetings 

2016: Thursday 7 July; Tuesday 11 October 

All meetings to be held 1230-1530hrs at BSAC HQ 

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C/16/17 

Declarations of interest 

There were no declarations of interest in the business listed for transaction at the meeting. 

C/16/18 

Minutes of the last meeting 

The unconfirmed minutes of the meeting held 20 January 2016 were APPROVED and SIGNED as a true 

record subject to one amendment. 

C/16/19 

Matters arising 

There were no matters arising not dealt with elsewhere at the agenda. 

C/16/19a 

C/16/08a BSAC Drugs Stability Testing Programme 

Council was reminded that at the last meeting a proposal to establish a BSAC Drug Stability Testing 

Programme was considered, with a request that BSAC underwrite the programme with a proviso 

that the programme is self-funding within 2 years. A number of questions were raised by Council 

which had been addressed. A final proposal had been circulated to Council by email and majority 

approval for the project had been received. 

Council NOTED the following: 

(a) 

The purpose and objective of the Programme is to provide evidence on the efficacy and 

stability of agents and devices used in the OPAT arena. The benefits of the Programme will 

be to make available, open access stability data that will inform practice and has the ability 

to improve patient safety and patient outcomes within a rapidly expanding area of 

infection management. The Programme objectives are cognisant with the charitable 

objectives of the Society “To support the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge in the 

field of antimicrobial chemotherapy”. 

(b) 

The decision to request establishment of the Programme followed a comprehensive 

literature review of published evidence on drug stability of antimicrobial agents. This 

review, which has accepted for poster presentation at ECCMID 2016, demonstrated a total 

absence of published data in the field. 

(c) 

Agreement is, subject to confirmation of matching funds from commercial sources for Year 

1 activity, to underwrite the start-up costs from investments within a range of £40k-£80k 

to enable testing and publication of stability data for between 2 – 4 devices and agents. 

5

(d) The programme will be subject to review at the end of 2017. 

C/16/20 

Finances 

C/16/20a 

Management and governance letter 

Council RECEIVED copies of the Management and Governance letter from the auditors 

appertaining to the accounts for the period 1 October 2014-30 September 2016. The purpose of 

the letter is to set out for Trustees/Directors the significant matters which came to the attention of 

the auditors during the course of their audit of the financial statements of British Society for 

Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (the “Charity”) for the year ended 30 September 2015. The auditors 

were present on site to test accountancy systems and procedures from 16-18 February inclusive. 

The letter was issued in accordance with the International Standard on Auditing (UK and Ireland) 

260, Communication of audit matters. 

Members were pleased to NOTE that there were no recommendations for improvement or items of 

concern, significant or otherwise were noted or raised during the course of the audit. 

C/16/20b 

BSAC Resistance Surveillance Programme 

The Honorary Treasurer reported that the financial position with regards to the BSAC Resistance 

Surveillance Programme for the year 2016 had improved. Four sponsors have now signed for the 

year 2016, reducing the overall project deficit to £25,664.95. The Standing Committee is 

continuing to work on the business model to ensure the programme is cost-neutral, including 

taking account of service costs provided by Southmead Hospital (salaries) from 2017 onwards. 

C/16/21 

Grants 

Council: 

(a) 

APPROVED amendments to the criteria for applicants applying for BSAC grants. The criteria 

for the 2016 call will read: 

“BSAC encourages applications on topics consistent with the strategy of this Society, and 

from early career researchers and clinical trainees. Furthermore, we support proof of 

principle research projects which will facilitate applications to other funding agencies. 

Please note that we do not encourage applications from those who have been in receipt of 

total research funding of more than £100,000 (or equivalent currency of applicant’s 

country) in the last 2 years. 

6

Each year, BSAC typically awards 1- 2 grants of £50,000 per project (large grant) and 2-3 

smaller grants of £15,000 per project. Due to the large number of applications received by 

BSAC, there is a triage process where the eligibility of applicants and topic of Application is 

assessed. Applications that do not meet these eligibility criteria will be rejected.” 

(b) 

AGREED to: 

i) Focus the call for BSAC grants to areas more closely aligned to the current priorities 

and activities of BSAC. Members of Council will submit, by Wednesday 18 May, 

suggestions for named calls. A final shortlist will be circulated for approval on 

Friday 20 May 2016, with the call for 2016 applications opened from June 2016 

onwards for award in 2017. 

ii) Extend, from the 2016 call onwards, the definition of studentship beyond PhD 

studentships to include research training leading to other equivalent awards e.g. 

Pharm D, MD, DDS. Funding for a maximum of £25,000pa for a maximum of four 

years will remain unchanged. 

C/16/22 

Stewardship and surveillance 

C/16/22a 

Use of antibiotics … policy statements 

Council approved the BSAC policy statements entitled The use of antibacterials in animals and The 

use of antibiotics in people. 

C/16/22b 

BSAC PPS system 

Council RECEIVED a written report on the BSAC National Antimicrobial Stewardship Point 

Prevalence Survey System (NAS-PPS) www.nas-pps.com software tool. The following points arising 

were NOTED: 

(a) 

The software is hosted on a secure N3 NHS governance compliant server environment and 

will be available to all UK Trusts and Boards free of charge. In return Trusts and Boards will 

share anonymised results via a NAS-PPS dashboard. The system will comprise of two parts: 

 

 

Antimicrobial module (already built, funded by BSAC) 

HAI module (under development, funded by PHE, development led by Susan Hopkins 

and team) 

(b) 

Both modules have been / will be built using the latest ECDC datasets, ensuring full 

compliance with European data collection. Trusts and Boards will be able to conduct local 

surveys, or wider surveys on collaboration with other Trusts and Boards to review 

prescribing and aid the design of interventions to improve appropriate prescribing. Trusts 

7

will be able to request bespoke PPS templates using the national data set + add in their own 

questions. A new template will be required for each bespoke PPS and the estimated cost of 

development is up to 4 development days or £2,000 per template. Two options will be 

available: 

 

 

Trust to underwrite the cost and keep data locally. 

BSAC, if it considers template of value to other Trusts and subject to available funding, 

to underwrite the cost and make template available to all Trusts free of charge with the 

proviso that centres using centrally funded templates allow notification of the survey 

and results via the national dashboard (i.e. allow publication of results by BSAC). 

(c) 

Public Health England has adopted the NAS-PPS to submit data For the 2016/2017 ECDC 

Point Prevalence Survey in acute care hospitals. Once the national data collection is 

completed, BSAC will deploy the NAS-PPS across all Trusts and Boards in the UK for use as 

training and benchmarking tool. 

C/16/22/c 

Working internationally: India, Russia, Africa and China 

The President reported on the range of international educational and stewardship activities that the 

Society is currently leading and working on. Council NOTED the following: 

(a) 

India: The report of the project Reducing Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in Indian 

Hospitals in support of the PM’s Global Campaign against AMR funded by the Foreign and 

Commonwealth Office (FCO) Prosperity Fund has now been submitted to the FCO. The 

overall objective was to support India in implementing Global and National strategies [e.g. 

Chennai declaration] on tackling AMR with particular reference to education in relation to 

antimicrobial prescribing. The report has scoped the requirement for educational solutions 

for Indian hospitals to enable development and implementation of such interventions that 

culturally and contextually relevant sand will help reduce AMR rates. The President and 

CEO will discuss next steps with the FCO and report back to the next meeting. 

(b) 

Russia: BSAC attended and supported production of a post event website for the high-level 

roundtable on policy, research, and collaboration in the field of AMR organised between the 

UK and Russia by the UK Science & Innovation Network (SIN)-Russia of the British Embassy 

in Moscow and the Interregional Association for Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobial 

Chemotherapy (IACMAC) in Smolensk (Russia). The meeting was held 17-18 December 

2015 and brought together leaders from Russian and UK medical science, innovation 

funders, along with academies, government departments and business to forge closer links 

and to promote mutual understanding of each other’s organisations, research landscapes 

and priorities. BSAC has submitted an application to the FCO to support a project similar to 

8

that undertaken in India. Website: http://www.bsac.org.uk/uk-russia-roundtablediscussion-antimicrobial-resistance-amr-dialogue-between-sectors/ 

(c) 

Africa: BSAC is working with the Infection Control Africa Network (ICAN) on a project to 

develop a curriculum framework for antimicrobial stewardship training for African 

healthcare facilities. The Society will co-host a session at the 6 th ICAN Conference to be 

held 26-28 September, Johannesburg, at which preliminary data from an online survey 

will be presented. Further information: http://ican-ams.com/ 

C/16/22d 

Translation of the Massive Open Online Course on Antimicrobial Stewardship 

The President reported that BSAC is seeking to secure funding to support translation of the Massive 

Open Online Course on Antimicrobial Stewardship into Spanish, Chinese, and Russian. There has 

also been interest in translating the course into Brazilian Portuguese. 

C/16/23 

Education and events 

C/16/23a 

BSAC virtual learning platform 

Council RECEIVED a report on the establishment of the BSAC Virtual Learning Environment and 

NOTED the following points arising: 

(a) 

The platform is aimed primarily at healthcare professionals, researchers and scientists and 

will over time provide a range of e-learning modules which will be a mix of open access 

and paid for courses. The aim is to offer courses open access to members as a membership 

benefit wherever possible. Funding has been secured to develop and offer the following 

modules as an opening offer: 

 

 

 

 

Behavioural science into practice: 6 short modules (Peter Davey leading 

Antifungal stewardship 

IV to Oral Switch 

Use of Oral agents in OPAT settings 

(b) 

Consideration is being given to development of a non-facilitated course based on the 

current MOOC, but with less and new content. 

(c) 

Each course will be developed using the following expert faculty and management model: 

 

 

 

2-3 lead authors/contributors 

Peer review panel (General Secretary + 2 identified, suitably experienced individuals per 

module) 

Dedicated project manager: Sally Bradley 

9

Technical support and designer: Neil Watson 

Filmed production engineer: Lester Millbank 

Evidence review / literature search / supplementary resources: Abi Jenkins 

Timescale: 12 -20 weeks per module from securement of faculty 

(d) 

The aim is that the programme is cost-neutral to the Society, with the ideal being for an 

ongoing modest surplus to be available to support platform costs. Based on 1,000 learners 

the subscription costs to the v-learning platform will be £10.00 per learner. BSAC has 

negotiated a set-up and start-up contract for an initial 6 months after which we will 

evaluate usage and negotiate a subscription rate for the next 12 months. 

(e) 

Development costs per module will vary, but for those supported using external funds costs 

will be full economic costs less 50% overheads, this being the Society’s investment and 

contribution to development. 

(f) 

Funding via grants or e-commerce arrangements will be managed by Tracey Guise, CEO in 

consultation with Officers and members of Council as appropriate. E-commerce will 

include the following: 

 

 

 

Payments for courses 

Payment for courses as part of an event (e.g. v-learning module either supporting or 

following workshop) 

Purchase credits for bundles of courses/multiple access for group of users (open to 

Trusts/Sponsors) 

(g) 

To date the Society has secured 2 educational grants to a total value of £30,000 to support 

development of the modules detailed under heading ‘CONTENT’ and are in late stage 

negotiations to secure a further educational grant to support development of a module on 

the role of vaccines in reducing AMR. 

C/16/23b 

Forthcoming BSAC events 

Council RECEIVED copies of a document outlining details of the following forthcoming BSAC events: 

 

 

 

 

25-27 April & 23-25 August 2016, BSAC Susceptibility Testing Residential Workshops, 

University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff 

19 May, BSAC AMR Roundtable Series 2, The Wellcome Trust London UK 

11-13 May 2016, 26th Conference of the European Wound Management Association, Bremen, 

Germany. Joint BSAC/EWMA Session: Wednesday 11 May 

16 June 2016, Proposed meeting on Locally Administered Antibiotics, one day meeting at Royal 

College of Physicians, London 

10

22 June and 12 October 2016, BSAC Susceptibility Testing User Training Days, London and 

Manchester 

23 - 25 August, BSAC Susceptibility Testing Residential Workshops 2015, University Hospital of 

Wales, Cardiff 

October – December, BSAC/BIA/HIS Regional Educational Workshops 2015, Venues across the 

UK 

FIS/HIS 2016 6 – 8 November, Edinburgh - BSAC sessions are now confirmed as follows: 

o PLENARY SESSION, Monday 7 November. 09:00-10:00: Therapeutic and technological 

advances in infection management (BSAC Plenary) 

o PARALLEL SESSION, Monday 7 November, 10:45-11:15: BSAC Antibacterial resistance 

in the British Isles Update for 2016 

o PARALLEL SESSION, Tuesday 8 November, 13:30-15:00 

 

 

 

8 – 9 December 2016, OPAT Meeting, International Convention Centre Birmingham, UK 

European Summit on Vaccines and Diagnostics, 8-9 June 2017, ICC, Birmingham 

Federation of Infection Societies 2017, 30 November – 1 December, ICC, Birmingham 

C/16/24 

Public Engagement 

Council: 

(a) 

RECEIVED copies of a report on public engagement activities conducted via Antibiotic 

Action for the period 9 th January to 6 th April 2016, Antibiotic Action including details of 

publications, responding to media enquiries presenting and/or attending meetings and 

conferences. Full details can be found in appendices 1-2. 

(b) 

AGREED to give consideration to questions to ask APPG members to consider for 

presentation as parliamentary questions, and email Professor Laura Piddock, Chair in Public 

Engagement with suggestions. 

(c) 

CONSIDERED and APPROVED IN PRINCIPLE the production of regular (quarterly proposed) 

BSAC newsletters to better inform the membership and external stakeholders about the 

activities of BSAC. Options for layout of newsletter will be presented to the next meeting. 

(d) 

NOTED a report of the IMPACT review 3rd stakeholder meeting on which Philip Howard 

represents the Society. 

C/16/25 

Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 

11

The Editor in Chief gave a verbal report on matters appertaining to the strategic and operational 

aspects of the JAC, including a report on the meeting of Publications Committee held 20 April 

2016. In relation to this report Council: 

(a) 

NOTED the resignation of Leonard Leibovici as Senior Editor to take up the position of Editor 

in Chief for CMI and David Reeves leave of absence for personal reasons. 

(b) 

APPROVED the appointment of John Perry, Engeline Van Duijkeren and Athanassios Tsakris 

as Senior Editors and Diane Ashiru-Oredope, Russell Lewis, David Van Duin, Sally Partridge, 

Anouk Muller and David Jenkins as Editors. 

(c) 

SUPPORTED a proposal to increase use of the services of the OUP virtual editorial office 

from 40-80 hours per month to assist the BSAC editorial office, noting this as an efficient 

and cost effective way to manage the growing workload within the office without 

increasing staffing numbers. 

C/16/26 

Guideline development 

A document outlining the guideline working and development groups in progress was 

CONSIDERED. Council NOTED the following activity: 

(a) 

BSAC / Vascular Society Vascular Graft Infections Guideline Working Group 

Lead: Jon Sandoe (BSAC lead) & Rachel Bell (Vascular Society lead) and Nick Price. 

Literature review and data extraction is on-going. Currently only three papers have met 

inclusion criteria. Plan to write-up literature search and then identify suitable individuals 

willing to sit on a panel for development of a guideline based on expert opinion. 

(b) 

BSAC, HIS, IPS and BIA MRSA Guideline Working Group 

Overall Lead: Irwin Brown, BSAC Lead: Nick Brown 

A joint group comprising representation from BSAC, HIS, BIA and IPS has been established 

to consider updating the joint BSAC, HIS, ICNA MRSA guidance published 2005/6/8. BSAC 

will be working with BIA on treatment and management whilst HIS and IPS will be taking 

diagnosis, screening, infection prevention and control aspects forward. Following agreement 

on the guideline finances literature search and review is anticipated to begin in early May. 

(c) 

BSAC, HIS, BIA Joint Guideline Development Group on MDR Gram Negative Infections 

Chairs: Peter Hawkey and Peter Wilson 

The infection control paper was published in JHI in November. The diagnosis and 

treatment paper has been received and will be subject to a process of national consultation 

during May-June. BSAC has been asked to provide support in preparing the final 

12

manuscript for submission; the CEO is considering what resource might be available to 

support this request. 

(d) 

Therapeutic Monitoring Literature Review Group 

Chair: Nick Brown; Authors: Abi Jenkins, Alison Thomson, Yvonne Semple, Nick Brown, Christine 

Sluman, Alastair MacGowan, Andrew Lovering and Phil Wiffen 

Details of the literature review were presented at the BSAC Spring Meeting and the survey as a 

poster at ECCMID. Guideline development meeting (expert opinion) will take place in May. 

(e) 

OPAT: Oral Agents in the OPAT Setting 

Lead: Matthew Dryden 

Literature search complete and intend to write-up finding for submission to JAC in the autumn. 

(f) 

Endocarditis 

BSAC guidelines were published in 2011 and following update of guidance produced by other 

organisations we aim to update the literature search and review in June 2016. New 

evidence will be submitted to the authors for review and consideration of a guideline update. 

C/16/27 

Membership 

16 applications for Membership of the BSAC have been received since the last meeting of Council. All 

applicants submitted supporting statements which have been seen and verified by the General 

Secretary. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr Poonam Kapila, Consultant Microbiologist, Kings Mill Hospital 

Dr Gereltuya Dorj, Lecturer, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences 

Dr Sharon Sheehan, Consultant Microbiologist, Eastbourne District General Hospital 

Dr Blaise Bougnom, Marie Curie Research Fellow, University of Birmingham 

Dr Gwenan Knight, Career Development Fellow, Imperial College London 

Ms Marisa Pinto, Student Researcher, University of Porto 

Mr Neil Powell, Antimicrobial Pharmacist, Royal Cornwall Hospital 

Dr Julia Vasant, Medical Microbiology ST5, Southmead Hospital 

Mrs Sarah May, Advanced Pharmacist – Antibiotics, Calderdale Royal Hospital 

Miss Alessandra Oliva, Infectious Diseases Specialist, Sapienza University of Rome 

Mrs Fatma Erdem, MD, Istanbul University 

13

Mr Stephen Kidd, Trainee Clinical Scientist, Basingstoke & North Hants Hospital 

Dr Kieran Clarke, Global Product Director, Alere 

Dr Sulman Hasnie, Consultant Microbiologist, Bradford Royal Infirmary 

Dr Virginia Ramos-Martin, Clinical Research Fellow, University of Liverpool 

Miss Neha Malhotra, PhD Senior Research Fellow, CSIR-IMTEC 

C/16/28 

Any other business 

There being no further items of business not dealt with elsewhere at the agenda, the meeting was 

declared closed. 

Signed: 

………………………………………………………………….. 

Date: 

………………………………………………………………….. 

Meeting of Directors of BSAC Ltd 

The Chair convened a meeting of the Directors of BSAC Ltd who adopted all discussion and agreements recorded 

above. 

14

BSAC Investment Property, 11 The Wharf, Birmingham B1 

A document for Council to consider 

1 Background 

BSAC owns a leasehold property at 11 The Wharf, Birmingham B1. There are 971 years remaining on lease. 

The property is currently valued at £280,000 (due for revaluation at 30 September 2016). The property 

served as the BSAC HQ until 2008 when the Society moved to 53 Regent Place having agreed a provisional 

sale price for 11 The Wharf of £1 million + to a development company, with all owners on The Wharf 

complex having secured similar agreements. 

Plans fell through due to the advent of the recession and the Society decided to seek a tenant. The property 

currently attracts a rental income of £20,000 pa, giving an investment yield of 7.14%. 

2 Current position 

BSAC has received an approach from Mike Gohan, HCB solicitors from an unnamed client asking if we 

would be willing to sell the property, for what price and to state the duration of lease remaining. Having 

sought the views of Executive Committee the CEO sent a holding reply as follows: 

Thank you for your email. I will take this to the Board of Directors for consideration. 

I anticipate the Board would be looking to negotiate rates in line with those previously quoted when 

redevelopment was last on the cards (the reason we relocated before plans were shelved due to the 

recession). 

It would be helpful if your client could indicate what uplift on market value (if any) they anticipate as an 

opening basis for negotiation. 

There is little advantage in BSAC offering a sale price at this stage. The property at 11 The Wharf (which is 

situated near the Hyatt Hotel off Broad Street) is giving us a good return on investment and indications are 

that commercial property prices in Birmingham are climbing. It is a prime site on the canal front with 3 

storey buildings in an area now comprising primarily 10-18 storey mixed commercial, retail and residential 

properties. British Waterways had already entered negotiations to lease the waterfront and sell the James 

Brindley public house adjacent to The Wharf complex in 2008. It is highly likely that we will receive a 

formal approach from a large scale developer in time. 

3 Action 

Council is asked to consider supporting ‘No action’ at the current time but to maintain a watching brief at 

this stage. 

Conor Jamieson 

Honorary Treasurer 

June 2016 

15

BSAC / European Wound Management AMR Collaborative 

A paper for Council to consider 

1 Background 

Following exploratory discussions at ECCMID 2014 in Barcelona, BSAC and the European Wound 

Management Association (EWMA) formally launched a joint antimicrobial stewardship collaborative at the 

25th Conference of the EWMA held 13-15 May at Excel, London. The collaborative was launched at a joint 

session at the conference and was oversubscribed, attracting 400 participants, with many more unable to 

gain entry. The 2 societies also collaborated on a joint session at the 2016 EWMA Conference, 11-13 May, 

Bremen, Germany. 

2 BSAC/EWMA Working Group 

A short-lived working group was established to develop a joint position paper on antimicrobial stewardship 

in would management. The paper Antimicrobial Stewardship in Wound Care: A British Society of 

Antimicrobial Chemotherapy/European Wound Management Association Position Paper has been submitted 

and is currently being considered for free access publication by the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. 

3 Proposals for future collaboration 

The collaboration has been valuable, pragmatic and productive and the proposal is that the two societies 

continue and extend their collaboration as follows: 

 

 

 

 

 

EWMA, 2017 Amsterdam: Collaborate on development of a paper on non-antibiotic antimicrobials for 

wound management (Rose Cooper is working on this with EWMA). 

Joint dissemination of outcomes of each society’s publications. 

Development of joint e-learning modules. 

Working with EWMA in discussing AMR policy based on the Dutch AMS policy, brining UK policy to the 

fore also. 

Possible joint stand-alone educational events going forward if need is evident. 

4 Action 

To consider the above proposals and offer comment and additional suggestions for collaboration. 

Dilip Nathwani 

President 

June 2016 

16

BSAC Virtual Learning Environment 


Since the last meeting of Council BSAC has continued with the development of the BSAC Virtual Learning 

Environment (VLE), a platform aimed primarily at healthcare professionals, researchers and scientists. The VLE 

will house a range of e-learning modules which will be a mix of open access and paid for courses, being offered 

open access as a membership benefit whenever possible. 

To date BSAC has identified and/or secured funding for development of the following modules: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behavioural science into practice: 3 short modules - led by Peter Davey 

TARGET – Webinar series for GPs, supported by PHE and led by Cliodna McNulty (7 webinars) 

GNB infections – led by Lilian Abbo, USA 

Vaccines 

Antifungal stewardship 

IV to Oral Switch 

Use of Oral agents in OPAT settings 

Proposals are also being developed for a module on optimal use of laboratory diagnostics and role of rapid 

diagnostics and development of an e-learning Book on antimicrobial stewardship. 

As reported at the last meeting, each course will be developed using the following expert faculty and management 

model: 

2-3 lead authors/contributors 

Peer review panel (General Secretary + 2 identified, suitably experienced individuals per module) 

Dedicated project manager: Sally Bradley 

Technical support and designer: Neil Watson 

Filmed production engineer: Lester Millbank 

Evidence review / literature search / supplementary resources: Abi Jenkins 

Timescale: 12 -20 weeks per module from securement of faculty 

ACTION: 

Nominations and suggestions are sought from Council for lead authors, contributors and peer review panellists for 

the above topics or other topics within the antimicrobial chemotherapy arena.. In the majority of modules 

honoraria will be available to recognise the contribution of lead authors and contributors. Self-nominations are 

permitted. 

Dilip Nathwani 

President 

June 2016 

17

Federation of Infection Societies Conference 2017 

28 November – 1 December, International Convention Centre, Birmingham 

Business and organisational model 


1 Objectives 

To: 

A 

Deliver a high quality, cost-neutral conference that enables all FIS member organisations to participate in 

the organisation of plenary and parallel sessions with all costs for the main programme met from 

Conference income. 

B 

Pilot an alternative business and organisational model that might inform forward arrangements and allow 

for any FIS member organisation, regardless of its size or financial capabilities, to lead on organisation of the 

annual FIS conference, offering equitable basis to all. 

2 Host Society 2017 

BSAC will be host Society and will be responsible for contracting with the conference provider and chairing 

and organising meetings of the Scientific Organising Committee. 

3 Conference Organiser 2017 

A commercial conference organiser has been contracted to deliver and underwrite all financial and 

operational risks for the following: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A multi-session conference for 700+ delegates over 3 days with catering and refreshment breaks. 

All costs associated with the conference programme, including speaker costs 

Provision of exhibition area for FIS bodies at no cost other than graphic panel production 

Securing of commercial sponsors/exhibitors 

Promotion of the event, delegate registrations and management of finances for the conference. 

Provision and maintenance of the FIS Conference website. 

Publication of all slide sets and abstracts for the event on the Conference website within 21 days of the 

Conference ending 

18

4 Business model 

 

 

 

 

 

The fee for the conference organiser will be 50% of all sponsorship raised. 

Conference costs will be managed in full by the conference organiser with delegate fees and 50% of 

sponsorship being used to cover all conference costs (venue, catering, insurances, speaker expenses 

including travel and hotel accommodation, printing, website, conference app, exhibition build, and other 

associated costs) 

BSAC will receive a project management fee equivalent of 5% of total delegate income as a contribution 

towards staffing costs and overheads. 

The conference organiser will bear the cost of any losses incurred. 

Any surplus after the deduction of all costs will be paid back to the host Society, BSAC, for disbursement on 

the next FIS Conference as grants for trainees or for whatever common purpose the FIS organisations might 

choose. 

5 Programme development 

 

 

 

The Scientific Organising Committee (SOC), comprising one representative, or their alternate, from each FIS 

organisation, will develop the programme. 

BSAC will chair and administer the SOC including securing or assisting in securing speakers. 

Members of the Scientific Organising Committee will receive a full conference registration. 

6 Return on investment to organisations participating in FIS: 

 

 

Participation at no cost for all plenary and parallel sessions – all speaker costs covered in accordance with 

the conference expenses policy. 

Standard exhibition space and branded external stand wall (visual to be provided). Inside wall to contain 

standard size graphic designed by individual societies 

7 Costs to organisations. 

 

 

Organisations hosting named lectures and lunches will be responsible for the costs associated with these. 

Organisations can request to host workshops or events outside of the main conference programme. 

Permission will be granted if there is capacity available and these events are in line with the ethos of the 

conference / do not compromise attendance at the main conference sessions. The organising body must 

meet the cost for any additional workshops, including room hire, catering and speaker expenses. 

8 Conference expenses policy 

19

A 

This expenses policy relate to chairs and speakers from within the UK only for the core programme. 

Organisations wishing to nominate speakers from outside the UK will be responsible for their full travel 

costs minus a contribution of £150.00 from conference. 

B 

Individuals presenting posters, free papers and clinical lessons will not be supported by conference and will, 

as in previous years, be required to register and meet their own travel and accommodation expenses. 

C 

All speakers will receive: 

 

 

 

Full conference registration 

One night accommodation in the chosen speaker hotel(s) for each day they are presenting at the conference. 

Standard class travel (flight or train booked at the earlies opportunity possible, and no later than one month 

in advance) or 0.45p per mile for travel by car where travelling by car is more economical than travelling 

by rail 

D 

All session chairs will receive full conference registration and travel expenses only. 

E 

All Members of the organising committee will receive full conference registration only. 

F 

Expenses for speakers giving named lectures, and all hospitality associated with such, will be met in full by 

the organising body. 

G 

Expenses for any workshops or sessions organised outside the main conference programme will be met in 

full by the requesting organisation. 

H 

There will be no exceptions to the above policy. Requests for travel and accommodation that exceed the 

conference expenses policy must be approved by the host organisation that will be invoiced for these costs. 

Tracey Guise 

BSAC Chief Executive 

On behalf of BSAC 

May 2016 

20

Forthcoming BSAC Meetings 

A document for Council to note 

23 - 25 August, BSAC Susceptibility Testing Residential Workshops 2015, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff 

This is the second of two residential workshops for 2016 and will inform delegates of both BSAC & EUCAST 

standardised disc testing methods and give an overview of other susceptibility testing methods. Delegates will be 

given an understanding of how to test difficult organisms and how to solve susceptibility testing problems. There are 

20 delegates on each course, plus faculty. 

Date to be confirmed, September 2016, Public Debate on AMR - Public Health England, University of Manchester, 

Second public event to raise awareness of the problems associated with antimicrobial resistance (AMR) 

12 October 2016, BSAC Susceptibility Testing User Training Days, London and Manchester 

To complement the Societies Susceptibility Testing programme, we will be running two training days in 2016 for 

users of the method and to offer guidance on the move to EUCAST. Programme has been agreed, the meeting has 

been promoted and registrations are beginning to come in. 

October 2016, Proposed Symposium at ID Week 

To note this joint BSAC / DRIVE-AB symposium was not accepted. 

October – December, BSAC/BIA/HIS Regional Educational Workshops 2016, Multi Drug Resistant Gram Negative 

Infections 

10 events will be held at 9 venues across the UK. Costs are shared between BSAC, HIS and BIA. Sponsorship from a 

pharmaceutical company is in final stages of discussion. 

Location Venue Date 

Dublin Gibson Hotel 26 October 

North West Conference Centre, Aintree University Hospital W/C 31 Oct, tbc 

Edinburgh Royal College of Physicians W/C 31 Oct, tbc 

Salisbury Salisbury Racecourse 1 November 

London Wellcome Collection Conference Centre 1 November 

North East Life Conference and Banqueting 4 November 

Leeds Radisson Blu Hotel 8 November, tbc 

Cardiff All Nations Centre 10 November, tbc 

Birmingham Birmingham University 14 November 

6 – 8 November, FIS/HIS 2016 Edinburgh 

BSAC sessions are now confirmed as follows: 

21

Monday 7 November. 09:00-10:00 - PLENARY SESSION 

Therapeutic and technological advances in infection management (BSAC Plenary) 

What’s new in drugs for infection – is help around the corner, Robin Howe 

Can new diagnostic technologies help infection prevention and management? Estee Torok 

Monday 7 November, 10:45-11:15 - PARALLEL SESSION 

BSAC Antibacterial resistance in the British Isles Update for 2016 

Resistance Epidemiology Update: new and old friends, David Livermore 

Resistance Data on newly approved anti-bacteria’s, Alasdair MacGowan 

Stewardship issues related to rising resistance and new agents, Hayley Wickens 

Tuesday 8 November, 13:30-15:00 - PARALLEL SESSION 

Driving better prescribing: challenging the norms 

National sentinel surveillance programmes: too much of a luxury or essential? Alasdair MacGowan 

Is behavioural science the real driver for improving effective antimicrobial prescribing? Peter Davey 

Novel educational solutions to drive better prescribing- evidence of effectiveness? Dilip Nathwani 

2016 ARM Conference, 24-25 November 2016, Holiday Inn Birmingham, UK 

07 December 2016, Locally Administered Antimicrobials, Royal College of Physicians London, UK 

8 – 9 December 2016, OPAT Meeting, International Convention Centre Birmingham, UK 

14 March 2017, BSAC Spring Conference: The Global Challenge of MDR GNB Infections, QEII Centre, London 

The 2017 Spring Conference will be held in collaboration with the Healthcare Infection Society and will promote, 

amongst other topics and presentations, the joint BSAC-HIS guideline on MDR Infections. It is proposed that the 

meeting is used as a platform for the launch of a PHE target initiative to reduce MDR infections, possibly introduced 

by the Secretary of State for Health. Final confirmation of arrangements is awaited from ARHAI. BSAC is keen that 

the meeting retains its global perspective in addition to providing a platform for what will be a national initiative. 

8-9 June 2017, European Vaccines and Diagnostics Summit, ICC, Birmingham UK 

2 day conference: Prevention and rapid detection of infection: the essential role of vaccines and diagnostics in 

improving public health and/or reducing resistance. 

Outputs from this conference will include 2 virtual learning modules – vaccines and the role of the laboratory in 

stewardship and surveillance. 

30 November – 01 December 2017, Federation of Infection Societies, International Convention Centre, Birmingham 

Venue secured, faculty to be called together for first discussions June 2016. 

Brendan Healy 

Meetings Secretary 

July 2016 

22

ANTIBIOTIC ACTION and other PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES 


Since 7 th April until 23 rd June 2016, Antibiotic Action has been involved in numerous activities including 

publications, responding to media enquiries presenting and/or attending meetings and conferences. Full details can 

be found in appendices 1-2. 

Appendix 1: summary of Antibiotic Action activities from 7 th April to 23 rd June 2016. It reports on progress and 

is for information only. 

Appendix 2: Questions raised in Parliament on Antibiotics April - June 2016 

Action requested: Questions for APPG members to ask in Parliament. 

Hayleah Pickford (intern 1 st April – 1 July 2016) has collated information on how to measure the impact of 

grant funding. With Laura Piddock, she has written a report for The BSAC Executive Committee including 

recommendations as to how to implement measuring the impact of BSAC grant funding. 

Hayleah has also collated information on how to measure the impact of other charitable activities such as public 

engagement. With LJVP, she has measured the impact of Antibiotic Action and a report for the BSAC Executive 

Committee is in preparation. It is hoped to submit this by 31 July 2016. 

23

Appendix 1 Antibiotic Action Activities since 7 April to 23 June 2016 

Fundraising 

 

Nothing to report. 

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Antibiotics (APPG-A) 

 

 

 

 

The Annual General Meeting of APPG-A was held on Wednesday on 8 th June 2016. Officers elected were: 

Julian Sturdy MP – Chair; Countess of Mar – Co-Chair ; Kevin Barron MP – Secretary; Baroness Masham of 

Ilton – Treasurer 

Re-registration of the APPG-A. 

The APPG-A has welcomed a new member to the group, Mr Kevin Holinrake MP (Con). 

The APPG-A is planning 2-3 meetingtsg in 2016-17. The first is a joint meeting with the All Party Health 

Group on The Pharmaceutical Industry. The proposed title is ‘Funding of discovery, research and development 

of new antibacterial treatments’. This meeting is to be a follow-up to the AMR Review report and 

recommendations with a presentation from the EU IMI funded project DRIVE-AB reporting their interim 

findings on potential economic models for stimulating drug development. 

Website 

 

Annual review of the Antibiotic Action website took place in May. Minor revisions to several pages including 

the homepage were made. 

AA Meetings and Conference Presentations 

 

 

 

 

All4Us Roundtable meeting, 19 th May 2016, London. 

DRIVE-AB Conference,2-3 June 2016, Amsterdam. 

The Ticking Time Bomb of Antimicrobial Resistance: What can we do and where should we go next? 8 th June 

2016, Edinburgh. (TB) 

Invited to speak at the Annual Research Meeting for Military Medicine, 8 th Dec 2016, London, LJVP (April). 

 

 

 

 

Forthcoming: 

Plugging the Antibiotics Gap: A Medicinal Chemist’s Perspective, 16 th November 2016, Cheshire. (LJVP). 

ARM 2016 (LJVP, deputy Chair_ 

EVID, 8-9 June 2017, Birmingham 

Public Engagement 

 

 

 

‘Turn your nose up’ campaign with the Farms not Factories organisation, (May) 

Bridging The Gap, 9 th June Warwick University, (VW) 

Invited to part in the panel ‘Developing New Business Models and Regulatory Frameworks to Facilitate Drug 

Discovery’, Policy-UK Antimicrobial Resistance Forum, 15 th June 2016, London. (April) 

24

Took part in a written panel interview which will appear in Future Medicinal Chemistry’s upcoming New 

Frontiers in Antimicrobial Drug Discovery special issue, guest edited by Mark Moloney, University of Oxford, 

UK (April 2016. 

Interviewed by Bloomberg News, Australia, LJVP (April). 

Invited to speak at an education session for Public Health registrars, Yorkshire, LJVP (April). 

Invited to interview with The Naked Scientist, LJVP, (April). 

Discussions with John Tearle from Flix Interactive about a Wellcome Trust funded project on an antimicrobial 

resistance computer game, LJVP, (April). 

APPG on Antibiotics Meeting The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance and how the NHS and Pharmaceutical 

industry are responding to the UK Strategy on AMR, 4 th May 2016, LJVP, NB, VW (May). 

Release of BSAC policies on antimicrobial use in animals and humans (May). 

Interviewed by The Atlantic on the O’Neill Report, LJVP, (May). 

Interviewed by BBC Radio 4 Today programme (1:22), LJVP (May). 

Interviewed by BBC2 Victoria Derbyshire programme (May). 

Interviewed by BBC Radio 4 Today programme (2:25) LJVP, (May). 

Interviewed by BBC World on superbugs, LJVP, (May). 

Invited to interview by Good Morning Britain about the O’Neill Report, LJVP, (May) 

Interviewed by Kevin Fong, National Geographic, LJVP (May). 

Interviewed by Bang! Oxford University’s Science Magazine, LJVP (May). 

Interviewed by a 7 th grader for a project on antibiotic resistance, LJVP (May). 

Interviewed by the Daily Mail Good Health, LJVP (May). 

Provided comment to Science Media Centre on colistin-resistant bacteria in US woman, LJVP (May). 

Invited to attend the UK premier of the documentary “Clean Hands”, 28 th June, London, LJVP (May). 

Invited to interview by The Los Angeles Times, LJVP (June). 

BBC Radio 4 ‘In our Time’ programme, Penicillin, 9 th June 2016, LJVP (June). 

Invited to interview by “Sputnik – Orbiting the World with George Galloway”, LJVP (June) 

Invited to write an article for The Conversation, LJVP (June). 

Reviewed and edited the script for a cartoon series generated by the Dundee Design School, LJVP (June). 

Invited to write an article for the Spanish newspaper ‘El País, LJVP (June). 

Provided a quote to the British Medical Journal for a feature on the impact of NICE sepsis guidance on antibiotic 

subscribing, LJVP (June). 

Attended the Longitude Prize Advisory panel meeting to review applications, LJVP (June). 

Invited to present a keynote lecture at the Aquaculture conference, October 2016, Inverness, LJVP (June). 

Invited to participate on a review panel, Academy of Finland, 7 th February 2017, LJVP (June). 

Invited to speak at the Sepsis Unplugged Conference, 13-14 October 2016, LJVP (June). 

Funded projects with others 

DRIVE-AB: 

25

Attending the 4th stakeholder meeting for the realist review on antimicrobial prescribing for doctors-intraining, 

17 th June, University of Exeter, PH (June). 

Grant applications on which antibiotic action/BSAC are Co-applicants or partners 

 

 

Flix Interactive Antimicrobial Resistance game –Wellcome Trust have funded pilot study. 

Antibiotic resistant bacteria film, Jack Levy and Two Halves Pictures – applying to the Wellcome Trust for 

funding 

Department of Health and CMO - Provided the CMO with slides to be used at International meetings. 

Publications 

Reflecting on the final report of the O’Neill Review on Antimicrobial Resistance. LID, May 2016 

Ask the Experts: how to curb antibiotic resistance and plug the antibiotics gap? Future Medicinal Chemistry, 

June 2016 

AA Champions 

To date there are 138 Champions from 25 countries (83 UK, 24 EU, 26 rest of the world). To help deliver the aims 

of Antibiotic Action, Champions are asked to promote Antibiotic Action by: 

 

 

engaging with peer groups to raise awareness e.g. giving lectures, putting up posters, engaging with the media. 

using social media AA Champion FaceBook page, Twitter) to inform others of activities. 

AA Stakeholders (previously called Petitioners and Partners) 

The 'Antibiotics in Modern Medicine' posters were sent out to 26 charities (Cystic Fibrosis, Diabetes, Pre-term infant, 

UTI, Joint replacement and Cancer). To date 3 charities have responded (Butterfly Trust (CF), The Cystitis and 

Overactive Bladder (COB) Foundation, and the Independent Diabetes Trust) with requests for more posters or the 

Antibiotic Action logo to use in newsletters. 

AA Intern 

Reviewing CVs of potential interns from the Computer Sciences Department, University of Birmingham. Their 

project will be to turn the excel database created by previous interns (Luchi Farrell, Rebecca Lo and Joe 

Wanford) into a searchable database accessible by all via ARC. 

Antibiotic Action Advisory Board 

 

Next meeting 1 st November. 

Working with other organisations - Nothing new to report. 

-End- 

26

15HLT07 AntiMicroResis - Kick Off Meeting 

23 rd June, 2016, Twickenham – London 

A document for Council to note 

BSAC is an academic partner in this EURAMET Grant running from June 2016 - May 2019. 

EURAMET is an EU funding body which supports research in measurement and standardisation. Historically, this 

funding has gone into physics and chemistry but increasingly biology. The lead organisation is LCG from the UK 

but there are partners from France, Germany, Spain and Slovenia. As with such EU grants, there are several 

experimental work packages, a management work package and dissemination work package. The BSAC role seems 

to be providing relevant expertise to support the experimental work packages through its Standing Committees and 

Working Parties and perhaps, more important, knowledge transfer via its publications, meetings and educational 

activities. The experimental work packages focus on standardisation of source materials for procalatonin testing, 

standardisation and EQA of genetic tests for pathogen identification and susceptibility testing, standardisation of 

cellular assays - for example, MIC testing, standardisation and EQA of viral load testing and resistance detection by 

PCR, development of reference standards to screen membrane active developmental antimicrobial using artificial 

bacterial cell membranes and investigation of future methods to detect antimicrobial resistance, namely MALDI- 

TOF and WGS. 

There are likely to be 6 meetings up to 2019. The exact role of BSAC is not yet determined. 

A P MacGowan 

23 rd June, 2016 

27


Unconfirmed minutes of the BSAC Publications Committee 

held on Wednesday 20 April 2016 

Present: 

Conor Jamieson, Honorary Treasurer 

Peter Donnelly, Editor-in-Chief 

Colin Drummond, Editorial Manager 

Phil Bishop, OUP 

Laura Orchard, OUP 

Apologies: 

Kate Gould, General Secretary 

Clare Jeeves, Senior Staff Editor 

Dilip Nathwani OBE, President 

Tracey Guise, Chief Executive Officer 

PC/16/01 


The Chair welcomed members to the meeting. Apologies for absence were NOTED. 

PC/16/02 


The unconfirmed minutes of the meeting held on 5 July 2015 were APPROVED as a true record of 

the meeting. 

PC/16/03 

Matters arising 

PC/16/04 

Editorial Board 

The Editor in Chief reported that Leonard Leibovici is about to step down as Senior Editor to take up 

the E-i-C position for CMI, in addition David Reeves will commence a leave of absence for personal 

reasons. He has made a number of appointments. Publications Committee: 

(a) 

SUPPORTED the appointment of the following: 

Senior editors: John Perry, Engeline Van Duijkeren and Athanassios Tsakris. 

Editors: Diane Ashiru-Oredope, Russell Lewis, David Van Duin, Sally Partridge, Anouk 

Muller and David Jenkins. 

(b) 

NOTED that the geographical distribution of Editors (19UK; 8 USA; remainder Europe) was 

in slight contrast with usage and author distribution data, with 36% of usage being in the 

USA. 

(c) 

AGREED consideration will be given to the appointment of additional editors within the 

USA, particularly the appointment of senior bacterial Editor from the USA. 

28

(d) 

Gave SUPPORT in principle to a proposal that OUP offers a 3-4 hour compact Oxfords 

Journal Day for senior members of BSAC team (President, Treasurer, CEO) with edited 

highlights of development areas in publishing. Phil Bishop will formally propose and 

organise. 

PC/16/05 

Journal finances - subscription income and accounts 

Publications Committee: 

(a) 

CONSIDERED the accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2015 and budget for 

the year ending 31 December 2016, discussing the reasons for changes in consortia income 

(a loss of 70 institutions during 2015), supplement revenue (£60k lower than in 2014), 

approval process for agreeing changes to open access charges to authors and perceived 

anomalies in the 2016 budget. 

(b) 

NOTED the following points arising: 

OUP has not performed as well in securing consortia subscription, which replace 

traditional institutional subscriptions, as they had hoped. Consortia subscriptions are 

intended to preserve the subscription base of the journal. 

A number of large country based consortia did not renew in 2015 (about 23K of 

income). 

OUP has a relatively large international sales force who will be attempting to sell JAC 

into new markets as it is a well-established journal. 

Open access income is still relatively low. 

Supplement revenue also fell by 60K in 2015 compared with 2014. 

Overall it is considered that a number of streams combined to result in a decline in the 

overall income. OUP’s belief is not that this is a trend; it should be more of a one off 

incident. 

(c) 

AGREED the following: 

Changes to open access charges are an operational matter and do not require formal 

approval from BSAC; advance notice only required. 

Phil Bishop will review and report back to BSAC on questions arising from consideration 

of the budget including copy-editing charges (increase from 22K to 52K), type-setter 

charges and changes to budget convention. 

PC/16/06 

Journal strategy 

Publications Committee: 

29

(a) 

CONSIDERED a number of strategic aspects of Journal organisation and management, 

including changes to senior editors and editors, the effect the aims and scope of JAC 

introduced in January 2016 had had in reducing unwanted submissions, revised 

instructions to authors and staffing support for the BSAC editorial office. 

(b) 

AGREED to recommend that BSAC increases OUP virtual office provision, provided by Sadie 

Thrift, from 40-80 hours per month. Final approval will be subject to receipt of an 

inventory detailing how the current 40 hours are used to assist the Editorial Manager in 

planning how virtual office support is used going forward. 

(c) 

NOTED the maximum cost would be £15,000 pa for 80 hours support but was an economic 

and viable solution that avoided the cost of an appointment of a full time member of staff at 

the office which would include tax, NIC, pension and on-costs. 

PC/16/07 

40 th Anniversary Articles 

The Editor in Chief reported that he has commissioned a series of ‘Behind the Scenes’ articles from 

JAC Editorial Office, BSAC and OUP. All anniversary articles will appear collectively in a virtual 

issue at the end of 2016. The Editor in Chief is aware of several articles that are in preparation and 

is actively engaged with authors to ensure these are produced and submitted in a timely fashion. 

It was NOTED that OUP has developed an interactive timeline that is available from the Journal 

website and also from the BSAC website. This timeline links through to free articles and listed 

important landmarks in JAC’s 40 year history. 

PC/16/08 

Supplements planning and process 

Members NOTED the following in relation to JAC supplements in development or commissioning 

stages: 

(a) SOAR Supplement - published online 05 April 2016. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(b) Supplements in the pipeline 

OPAT – will now be a series of Leading articles 

CARE pathway Supplement (submission around 01 July) 

Tetraphase Supplement (now delayed awaiting FDA moves on the drug) 

CEMPRA Solithromycin Supplement (Glenn Tillotson, now wrestling with what the regulatory guys will 

allow in a Supplement, much reduced from the old days) 

Clostridium difficile Supplement (potentially from Mark Wilcox at ECCMID) 

Basilea (Invasive Mould infections) 

30

PC/16/09 

Editorial meetings 

The Committee reviewed the format and regularity of editorial meetings, noting that two 

teleconferences held in December 2016 had led to engagement with 20 editors and productive 

discussions. 

The editorial team meets with OUP in the Netherlands four times each year, with senior editor 

meetings held twice yearly, one in person meeting and one virtual meeting. 

PC/16/10 

Journal metrics 

The Editorial Manager presented a report outlining key metrics in relation to Journal production. 

The following points arising were NOTED: 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

There are some problems in securing reports and decision in a timely fashion from a small 

number of editors. This is being addressed as is the need to maintain an increase in 

immediate rejections based on the aims and scope of the Journal. 

Development of a scatter plot of Editor performance charts the number of articles handled 

against speed of handling. This helps us identify Editors who are dealing with low numbers 

of articles slowly. Steps are being taken to address this as it can cause operational problems 

and result in author queries. 

Data appears to show that the 7% of immediate rejections that the Editor in Chief was able 

to reject last year has now proved impossible and has moved directly over in the accepted 

sector. The Senior Editor immediate rejections and Editor rejections have remained the same. 

An improved focus on increasing rejections at all stages is needed. 

Post acceptance handling times have been creeping up over the past year. This is now a very 

serious focus and both sides are committed to bringing this back down. The increased 

number of revision decisions and acceptances unfortunately impacts on this and is likely to 

cause delays as both the copy editors and JAC EO staff will struggle if there is too much 

accepted material moving through the system. Both BSAC and OUP will monitor, review and 

address as required. 

PC/16/11 

JAC budget submission 

It was NOTED that the budget submission for internal BSAC editorial costs needs to be submitted to 

the Honorary Treasurer by Friday 1 July 2016 

31

PC/16/12 

Publishers report, including marketing report 

Phil Bishop and Laura Orchard presented the publishers report and marketing report. The 

following matters arising were NOTED: 

(a) Data demonstrated that mean acceptance time to publication in 2015 was 4.5 weeks with 

responses from author surveys being favourable, borne out by a lack of complaints received 

post-acceptable by the BSAC editorial office. 

(b) OUP projections suggest that the Impact Factor this year will be on the edge of 5.0 but it was 

agreed it would be preferable if JAC did not fall below 5.0. It was agreed that CMI should 

be included on the IF slide by OUP for future reports. 

(c) There has been a slight increase in monthly downloads (1.6%). 

(d) The establishment of the supplements working group and the alteration of the Aims and 

Scope were good progress for the Journal. 

(e) Marketing objectives for 2016 are to increase usage by 5% and exposure of the journal 

through conference presence and social media activities and to continue to support the 

Editorial team in obtaining high quality submissions for JAC. 

(f) The Editor in Chief will request more help from BSAC with ‘boots on the ground’ at key 

meetings and people talking to high quality authors and encouraging them to submit to JAC 

(he cited the example of John McConnell at Lancet Infectious Diseases who spends a lot of 

time making the right contacts at meetings). 

PC/16/13 

Websites 

It was NOTED that the BSAC has the following websites that promotes its initiatives and activities: 

www.bsac.org.uk 

BSAC main website, currently under review 

www.antibiotic-action.com Antibiotic Action, due for relaunch September 2015 

www.e-opat.com 

UK OPAT Initiative 

www.res-surv.org Resistance Surveillance, relaunched in 2014 

www.nas-pps.com 

Placeholder website for the forthcoming Point Prevalence Survey 

system; will be developed to full site for launch 

www.appg-on-antibitoics All Party Parliamentary Group on Antibiotics 

http://jac.oxfordjournals.org/ - JAC, managed by OUP 

www.futurelearn.com/courses/antimicrobial-stewardship - 

managed by FutureLearn for Massive Open Online Course on Antimicrobial Stewardship 

PC/16/14 


PC/14/14a 

DeepDyve 

32

It was AGREED that OUP will formally propose that JAC formally subscribe to DeepDyve, an article 

rental service where users can hire access to an article. It would represent a little extra income with 

no apparent damage to other streams evident from experience with other OUP journals. 

OUP will monitor other streams and would pull out if there was a steep decrease in related income 

streams. It was NOTED that comparator journals JCM and CMI are both in DeepDyve. 

PC/14/14g 

JAC Pricing 

It was AGREED to recommend to BSAC Council that a 5% price increase in the institutional 

subscription price as advised by OUP is approved. Phil Bishop will provide a paper for Council 

giving a justification for this recommended increase. 

Signed: 

……………………………………………………………………. 

Date: 

……………………………………………………………………. 

33

BSAC Guideline Development and Guideline Working Groups 


This document outlines the guidelines working and development groups current in session. It reports on current 

position and progress and is for information only. Where a decision on working group progress is required, this is 

indicated both on the agenda and below. 

1 BSAC / Vascular Society Vascular Graft Infections Guideline Working Group 

Lead: Jon Sandoe (BSAC lead) & Rachel Bell (Vascular Society lead) and Nick Price. 

Literature review and data extraction is on-going. Currently only three papers have met inclusion criteria. 

Plan to write-up literature search and then identify suitable individuals willing to sit on a panel for 

development of a guideline based on expert opinion. 

2 BSAC, HIS, IPS and BIA MRSA Guideline Working Group 

Overall Lead: Irwin Brown . BSAC Lead: Nick Brown 

A joint group comprising representation from BSAC, HIS, BIA and IPS has been established to consider 

updating the joint BSAC, HIS, ICNA MRSA guidance published 2005/6/8. BSAC will be working with BIA on 

treatment and management whilst HIS and IPS will be taking diagnosis, screening, infection prevention and 

control aspects forward. Following agreement on the guideline finances literature search and review is 

anticipated to begin in early May. 

3 BSAC, HIS, BIA Joint Guideline Development Group on MDR Gram Negative Infections 

Chairs: Peter Hawkey and Peter Wilson 

The infection control paper was published in JHI in November. The diagnosis and treatment paper has just 

completed a process of national consultation and is being finalised for submission. 

4 Therapeutic Monitoring Literature Review Group 

Chair: Nick Brown. Authors: Abi Jenkins, Alison Thomson, Yvonne Semple, Nick Brown, Christine Sluman, 

Alastair MacGowan, Andrew Lovering and Phil Wiffen 

Details of the literature review were presented at the BSAC Spring Meeting and the survey as a poster at 

ECCMID. A Guideline development meeting (expert opinion) was held in May. 

34

5 OPAT: Oral Agents in the OPAT Setting 

Lead: Matthew Dryden 

Literature search complete and intend to write-up finding for submission to JAC in the autumn. 

6 Endocarditis 

BSAC guidelines were published in 2011 and following update of guidance produced by other 

organisations we aim to update the literature search and review in June 2016. New evidence will be 

submitted to the authors for review and consideration of a guideline update. 

General Secretary 

June 2016 

35

Minutes for BSAC Grants Committee Meeting 

Wednesday 11 May 2016 (BSAC HQ) 

Committee members present: 

In attendance: 

Apologies: 

Dr Paul Long, Grants Secretary 

Dr Colin Sutherland 

Dr Estée Tӧrӧk 

Dr Robin May 

Dr Keith Miller 

Dr Felicity Drummond 

Ms Debbie Foster 

Professor Kate Gould 

G/2016/01 


The Chair welcomes members to the meeting, Apologies for absence were NOTED: 

G/2016/02 


The unconfirmed minutes of the committee meeting held on 15 May 2015 were APPROVED as a 

true record of the meeting 

GC/2016/03 

Funding available for 2016 awards 

It was NOTED that £140,000 is available to the BSAC grant funding programme. No PhD 

studentship applications were invited for this round of funding. 

The following applications were received by grant type: 

Summary of 2016 Grant Applications 

Grant Type No. of applications Total value of applications 

Research 109 £3,760,228 

Project 51 £679,404 

Vacation 12 £23,280 

Overseas 7 £81,898 

Travel - ECCMID 9 £7,111 

Travel - ASM Microbe 8 £12,401 

Travel - Terry Hennessey 3 £4,261 

Education 0 NA 

PhD Studentship 0 NA 

TOTAL 199 £4,568,583 

36

GC/2016/04 

Research Grant Applications 

The following Research grants were RECOMMENDED for funding: 

GA2016_012R Fabrice Boyom. University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon. £50,000 

GA2016_087R Simone Brogi. University of Siena, Siena Italy. £21,000 

Details of all other applications not recommended for funding are held at the BSAC office. 

GC/2016/05 

Project Grant Applications 

The following Project grants were RECOMMENDED for funding: 

GA2016_009P Brian Robertson. Imperial College London, UK. £15,000 

GA2016_020P Françoise Debierre-Grockiego. Université Francois-Rabelais tours, France. £15,000 

GA2016_029P Martin Scanlon. Monash University, ViC, Australia. £15,000 


GC/2016/06 

Vacation Grant Applications 

The following Vacation grants were RECOMMENDED for funding: 

GA2016_002V Cecilia Cabrera. University of Strathclyde, UK. £2,300 

GA2016_006V Jordan Au. University of Leeds, UK. £1,220 

GA2016_011V Clarice Kayee Chu. University of Leicester, UK. £1,940 


GC/2016/07 

Overseas Scholarship Applications 

The following Overseas Scholarship was RECOMMENDED for funding: 

GA2016_005OS UK Sponsor: Rebecca Goss, St Andrews £11,800 


GC/2016/07 

Travel Grant Applications Awarded 

37

GC/2016/07a ECCMID 

The following ECCMID Travel grants were RECOMMENDED for funding: 

GA2016_005T Gereltuya Dorj. Mongolian National University, Mongolia. £1,000 

The assessment of the implementation of the national strategy on antimicrobial resistance and 

rational use of antibiotics in Mongolia [Full report received] 

GA2016_007T Ayham Abulaila. Kağıthane – Istanbul, Turkey. £753.40 

Comparison of a novel OXA-48 K-SeT test and Blue-Carba test in detection of Carbapenemaseproducing 

Enterobacteriaceae with using PCR as reference method [Full report received] 


GC/2016/07b Travel Grant Applications Awarded – ASM Microbe 

The following ASM Microbe grant was RECOMMENDED for funding: 

GA2016_018T Juliana Alcoforado Diniz. University of Dundee, Scotland. £1,128 


GC/2016/07a Terry Hennessey Fellowship 

The following Terry Hennessey grant was RECOMMENDED for funding: 

GA2016_011T Nicole Stoesser. University of Oxford, UK. £1,280 


GC/2016/08 

Summary of 2016 Grant Awards made 

GRANTS AWARDED 2016 

SUMMARY OF GRANTS RECEIVED, FUNDING AVAILABLE AND FUNDING AWARDED 

Total number of grant applications received: 199 

Total funding requested: £4,568,583 

Total funding available: £140,000 

Total number of grants awarded: 12 

Total funding awarded: £136,141.40 

38

Grant Type Grant No. Lead Applicant / Country Amount (GBP) 

Candidate 

Research GA2016_012R Fabrice Boyom Cameroon £50,000.00 

Research GA2016_087R Simone Brogi Siena, Italy £21,000.00 

Project GA2016_009P Brian Robertson London, UK £15,000.00 

Project GA2016_020P Françoise France £15,000.00 

Debierre- 

Grockiego 

Project GA2016_029P Martin Scanlon Australia £15,000.00 

Vacation GA2016_002V Cecilia Cabrera Strathclyde, £2,300.00 

Scholarship 

(candidate) UK 

Vacation GA2016_006V Jordan Au Leeds, UK £1,220.00 

Scholarship 

(candidate) 

Vacation GA2016_011V Clarice Kayee Leicester, £1,940.00 

Scholarship 

Chu (candidate) UK 

Travel - 

ECCMID 

GA2016_005T Gereltuya Dorj Mongolia £1,000.00 

Travel - 

ECCMID 

Travel - ASM 

Microbe 

Overseas 

Scholarship 

Terry 

Hennessey 

Fellowship 

GA2016_007T Ayham Abulaila Turkey £753.40 

GA2016_018T Juliana 

Scotland £1,128.00 

Alcoforado Diniz 

GA2016_005OS Rebecca Goss Scotland £11,800.00 

GA2016_011T Nicole Stoesser Oxford, UK £1,280 

GC/2016/09 


GC/2016/09a Grants Processes 

Members NOTED that BSAC is implementing an online system (Scholar One) for managing the 

grants process. The purpose of the new system is to automate, as far as possible, the grants process. 

The system and processes will include the following: 

(a) 

An application submission open date of 1 September with close date of 1 November 

39

(b) 

(c) 

Introduction of an initial screening step to ensure all applications fulfils BSAC requirements/ 

are competitive (extending to project, research, PhD studentship & Education grants) which 

will be carried out by the Grants Secretary. 

Triage review conducted by the Grants Secretary (with committee assistance as required). 

[Since the committee met this step was removed from the process as not possible to 

accommodate within the online platform] 

Paul Long, Keith Miller & Colin Sutherland indicated interest / support for testing implementation of 

the system. 

GC/2016/09b Eligibility criteria 

BSAC Council has approved amendments to the eligibility criteria for grant applicants. The new 

criteria read as follows: 

“BSAC encourages applications on topics consistent with the strategy of this Society, and from early 

career researchers and clinical trainees. Furthermore, we support proof of principle research 

projects which will facilitate applications to other funding agencies. Please note that we do not 

encourage applications from those individuals who have been in receipt of total research funding of 

more than £100,000 (or equivalent currency of applicant’s country) in the last 2 years. 

Each year, BSAC typically awards 1- 2 grants of £50,000 per project (large grant) and 2-3 smaller 

grants of £15,000 per project. Due to the large number of applications received by BSAC, there is a 

triage process where the eligibility of applicants and topic of Application is assessed. Applications 

that do not meet these eligibility criteria will be rejected.” 

Some members were concerned that this change might reduce the quality of applications submitted; 

noting any concerns or proposals for changes would need to be presented to the next meeting of 

Council on 7 July 2016. 

GC/2016/09c Extending PhD studentships to include other awards 

Members NOTED that BSAC Council had approved a proposal for, from the 2016 call onwards, the 

definition of studentship to be broadened beyond PhD studentships to include research training 

leading to other equivalent awards e.g. Pharm D, MD, DDS. Funding for a maximum of £25,000pa 

for a maximum of four years will remain unchanged. 

GC/2016/09b Focussed calls for BSAC grant applications 

The Committee: 

40

(a) NOTED that BSAC Council has agreed to call for Research grants (i.e. Project, Research & 

Studentships) in specific areas aligned more closely to the priorities and activities of the Society. 

A short list of topics is currently being considered. 

(b) Expressed concern that this might reduce the number of quality applications submitted; noting 

any concerns or proposals for changes would need to be presented to the next meeting of 

Council on 7 July 2016. 

GC/2016/09c Membership 

It was NOTED that: 

(a) The terms of office of Robin May & Estee Torok have come to an end. 

(b) The Grants Secretary will consider and propose candidates to replace Robin May; Estee orok 

will consider whether to serve a second term of office. 

(c) The Grants Secretary is considering increasing the number of committee members from 6 – 

8. 

Signed ……………………………………………………………….. 

Date …………………………………………………………………… 

- End - 

41

APPLICATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP 

A document for Council to consider and approve 

7 applications for Membership of the BSAC have been received since the last meeting of Council. All applicants 

submitted supporting statements which have been seen and verified by the General Secretary. 

APPLICANTS 

Miss Kerry Nanji, Medical Science Liaison Specialist, Quintiles 

Mrs Raquel Portela, PhD Student, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL) 

Ms Catia Marques, PhD Student, University of Lisbon 

Dr Constanca Pomba, Associate Professor, University of Lisbon 

Dr Daiana Lima-Morales, Post Doctoral, HCPA 

Miss Lindsay Ferguson, PhD Student, University of The West of Scotland 

Mr Steve Millington, Sales/Marketing Business Development, Optigene 

Current membership numbers: 

Total 791 

Ordinary Members 651 

Retired Members 111 

Honorary Members 29 

July 2016 

42

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