Welcome to our March news update and my first as President of the British Hip Society. For those of you who don’t know me, I work in the Lower Limb Unit at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield, in post since 1998. I have seen much change in hip surgery over that time, but none of us could have foreseen the effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic which has thrown all our practices into turmoil. I hope that the British Hip Society can help support you all during the long-awaited restart of elective practice. There is much work going on behind the scenes which I will touch on below, but this all represents many hours of hard work by your BHS Executive. I would also like to pay tribute to Jonathan Howell who has possibly had the most difficult year ever as BHS President. He has been an inspirational President exemplified by the outstanding and inclusive way he has led the society in all its work.
BHS AGM Thursday March 4th
Thank you to all who participated in the first Virtual British Hip Society AGM. There was some concern that the meeting might not be quorate, but the attendance was the best at an AGM that we think we have ever had! Jonathan Howell, as outgoing President gave a comprehensive summary of the BHS activities over the past year which were significantly impacted by the Covid pandemic. Nevertheless the BHS were able to deliver a wide ranging programme that included development in our educational capabilities, addressing culture and diversity within the Society, a new BHS website, professional advice to our members, educational webinars, various research activities and strategy work with Revision Hip Network development.
The formation of a Research Committee was ratified as were a number of amendments to the constitution. Members agreed to the formation of both an Education Committee and the Culture and Diversity Committee, both of which will be ratified at the AGM in 2022.
In addition, the following BHS members were elected to the Executive Committee, and we congratulate and welcome them to these posts:
Dominic Meek President Elect
Anil Gambhir Treasurer (re-elected)
Tim Board Research Committee Chair
Simon Buckley Editorial Secretary
Tim Petherham Webmaster
Henry Wynn-Jones Member at Large
Date for your Diary: BHS Annual Scientific meeting 9-11 June 2021
The pandemic has led to many meetings being cancelled or delayed and the BHS Annual Scientific Meeting has been no exception. The annual March date for a face-to-face meeting was clearly impossible and it was therefore delayed to 9-11 June 2021, to be held at the Bournemouth International Centre. Unfortunately, the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions to allow large face-to-face meetings is not expected until June 21st, at the earliest, and our venue is to be used as mass vaccination centre at least until 30th June, so the Annual Scientific Meeting will now have to be virtual.
Please still book your study leave for the 9-11 June when we will deliver live content over three days including Topics in Focus, the Presidential Guest Lecturer, ,Free Papers and an interactive platform to facilitate discussion. Friday is Industry Day with a high quality series of presentations of current debate and interest. The entire meeting content will be recorded and available on the Panopto portal, accessible from the BHS website. Registration dates will be announced in due course.
On Friday 11th June, the second BHS Instructional Course, intended for those preparing for the FRCS(T+O) examination, will take place in parallel with the Scientific Meeting. This course builds on the highly successful session at the BHS 2020 in Newport and is organised by President Elect, Vikas Khanduja. Interested participants will be able to register separately for the course.
BHS involvement in Hip Revision Network Development
There was an outstanding response to the request for interested surgeons to participate in the election of representatives to the National Advisory Panel to advise on the development of revision hip networks. Over 260 BHS and non-BHS members contributed to an online session where multiple sub-regions of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales decided who would represent them on the panel. The BHS are dedicated to facilitating a clear, open and democratic process during all stages of the discussion around revision hip networks. The next steps in the process with be to convene the panel and agree on its the terms of reference and subjects to address.
Are you an Expert in VTE?
If so, the BHS have been asked to nominate members to take part in a Delphi process organised by Prof Javad Parvizi and the International Consensus Meeting (ICM). The process will be entirely virtual and expressions of interest are needed by 28th March.
If you are interested, please contact the BHS on: secretary@britishhipsociety.com kwith a summary of your previous expertise and publications in the field.
NAHR report
The NAHR board is pleased to publish the 6th Annual report for 2021, which can be downloaded from www.nahr.co.uk. A total of 10,288 pathways have been entered in the registry where operative data was also recorded. There have been approximately half the numbers of pathways in 2020 (n= 831) in comparison to previous years (2019, n=1637), which most likely represents the impact of the pandemic on elective orthopaedics. The report includes data on 8551 hip arthroscopies and 1120 pelvic osteotomies and demonstrates the benefit of hip preserving procedures in these patients. At the recent BHS AGM, an expansion of the NAHR Board was approved. We would like to invite applications for the role of regional representatives, to improve local referral pathways and surgeon engagement. It is an exciting opportunity for young surgeons to be involved closely with NAHR. Please submit your one-page expression of interest to nahr@britishhipsociety.com
I will write again next month, but in the meantime I hope that you and your families can enjoy the start of restrictions easing over the Easter holidays.
Best Wishes
Andy Hamer
President, British Hip Society