Minutes of the ACTA Business Meeting.
Hinxton Hall, Cambridge Friday15th July
ACTION
ACTA Committee
Dr F Gibson [FG] Chair
Dr S Bennett [SB]
Dr D. Duthie [DD]
Dr J Gothard [JG]
Dr D Smith [DS]
Dr JP van Besouw [JPvB]
IN ATTENDANCE: Drs Alston, Bill, Hardy, Hulf, Hulse, Khan,
Manners, Meikle, Oduro, Ramkumar, Ray, Scott, Sinclair, Simon,
Stanford, Wark, Whittaker.
1.
Apologies
Colquhoun, Gilbe, Kneeshaw.
2.
Minutes from previous meeting: Oxford October 2004.
These were approved without alteration.
3.
Matters arising
Dealt with in the subsequent agenda.
4.
Chairman’s Report.
Dr Gibson addressed the members in her first meeting as Chairman; she
stated how pleased she was to be the first woman to hold the office. The
Chairman thanked Dr Falter and the organising committee for the days
meeting before presenting her report.
The Chairman wished to express the Associations thanks to Dr’s Duthie
and Gothard who will be leaving the committee upon completion of two
terms of office; both have provided invaluable service to ACTA over their
period of office. The Chairman singled out Dr Duthie’s pivotal role in
developing the ACTA website and News Letter and Dr Gothard’s work in
ensuring support of ACTA members in the Clinical Excellence Awards
process and in liaison with EACTA. Committee elections to replace them
will take place over the Autumn.
Legal opinion on the requirement of members to sign-up to ACTA as a
requisite of membership had been sought. Council’s opinion was that
although it was desirable for such an arrangement to be in place, payment
and acceptance of a subscription demonstrated a desire for membership of
the Association. The value of a signed statement of acceptance of the
terms and conditions of membership would be in circumstances where a
dispute arose between an individual and the Association.
A joint meeting with OAA on problems of dealing with patients with
cardiac disease during pregnancy had been proposed. There is enthusiasm
for this meeting to take place. The committee had discussed the possible
format for such a venture and possible venues. The Chairman agreed to
the proposal with the Chairman of the OAA to take the program forward.
Plans for the Autumn meeting in Belfast are well advanced. Flyers were
distributed at the Spring meeting in Cambridge and the event is publicised
in ACTA news. The meeting will take place in the Waterfront Hall, with a
program concentrating on perioperative organ protection. The conference
dinner will take place in Belfast City Hall.
An AAGBI seminar on Anaesthesia for upper GI surgery will take place
on the 17th November at the Belfast Hilton Conference Centre. ACTA
members are encouraged to attend.
A sitting of the joint BSE/ACTA TOE exam is scheduled to take place on
the afternoon of 17th November prior to the Autumn ACTA meeting.
5
Membership issues. (DS.)
a
Database.
There are currently 437 members on the ACTA database, 332 UK
consultants and 78 trainees; there are a small number of retired, overseas
and honorary members. New applications are of the order of 1-2/week.
Subscription collection by direct debit exists for around 400 members and
the failure rate for subscription collection is <2% which is very acceptable
by banking standards. Arrangements for the collection of subscriptions
from non UK members was discussed, although it would be possible to
introduce a facility for CC payment on-line the cost of administrating the
system given the small number of individuals who would utilise the
service was deemed to be financial unsound.
The web database will be updated now that the transfer to the new
membership arrangements, have been completed.
b
Finances.
The next set of Accounts is due to be submitted by October 2005 and will
reflect the change in the accounting year- which now runs for a calendar
year from Jan-Dec. The accounts and financial position of ACTA Ltd
were tabled for the period to 31st Dec 2004 and 30th June 2005. ACTA Ltd
remains financially sound although a number of outstanding payments to
EACTA in regard of joint subscriptions and the 2004 London EACTA
have yet to be made.
The Chairman thanked Dr Smith for his work in bringing the Associations
DB and Accounts into order.
6
Meetings, ACTA News, Website (DD).
a
Meetings.
The next meeting of ACTA will be in Belfast in November preceded by a
meeting on Anaesthesia for upper GI surgery organised by the AAGBI.
Anaesthesia will be publishing a selection of the abstracts submitted for
presentation at the ACTA meetings.
ACTA 2006.
The Spring meeting will be held on 23rd June 2006 in Cambridge. Whilst
the Autumn meeting- organised by Southampton- will take place in
Winchester in September/October with the emphasis being upon surgery
of the thoracic aorta.
Future meetings.
2007- Welsh Meeting Swansea/Cardiff
2008- Leeds
20092010- Brighton
b
ACTA News.
The Spring issue of ACTA news had been posted to members in early
July. Members of the association are to be encouraged to submit articles
of interest to the new editor.
c
Website.
There has been a steady increase in utilisation of the ACTA website as the
window of the association to the world and as the point of access of
information to members. The ACTA committee feel that the website is
now a valuable resource of the association, its format has remained
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unchanged for a while and a redesign is proposed.
7.
TOE Matters (SB).
a
Examinations.
Opportunity exists for candidates to take the UK TOE exam in October in
Birmingham in conjunction with the BSE meeting or in November in
Belfast, To date 24 candidates have registered for the Belfast exam. Dr
Morgan-Hughes has been appointed Chief Examiner.
b
Departmental Accreditation.
The process for teaching accreditation of Hospitals continues to be
discussed.
c
Course feedback.
Participant assessment of ACTA approved TOE courses remains patchy.
Those centres from whom feedback has been received indicates that
courses have a high approval rating and meet the objectives and
expectations of the participants.
8
Thoracic Anaesthesia DD
A number of meetings are planned for next year by the thoracic sub group
There is desire for a regular teaching/refresher meeting on aspects of
Thoracic anaesthesia. It was envisaged these meetings would be
complimentary to those organised by ACTA and would enhance the
educational opportunities for those involved in cardiothoracic anaesthesia.
9.
Committee elections. JPvB
The process for the election of new members to the committee is ongoing.
Nomination forms are available for download from the website with a
closing date of August 5th. A ballot of Consultant members will be
organised in late August/September.
10.
ACTA Awards.
In the light of the increase in funds accrued by ACTA over the last years
the committee proposed an increase in maximum value of the educational
award from £5000 to £10000 and an increase in the value of the prizes
awarded at the meetings.
11
EACTA. JG..
The recent EACTA meeting in Montpelier had attracted 400 delegates.
Those attending had felt that it was a successful event and the organisers
have reported a profit.
The EACTA TOE exam took place during the course of the meeting.
EACTA members now receive a copy of the EJA as part of their
subscription package.
EACTA continue to discuss the merits of establishing a standard for
training in cardiac anaesthesia. The committee felt that such a document
would have little validity in the UK where the RCA were responsible for
standards and regulation of training.
Future meetings of EACTA are scheduled for:
2006. Italy
2007. Poland
2008. Turkey
2009. Greece.
EACTA have signed a contract with a conference organiser who will
coordinate the meetings over the next few years.
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JG sought the members views as to whether he should continue to
represent UK cardiac anaesthetists on the EACTA representative Council
as he was about to leave the ACTA Committee. He stated that he would
be keen to continue for a second term subject to approval from the ACTA
membership.
12
Perfusion related matters. (Dr Wark).
There is increasing concern regarding the position of perfusionists
administering drugs. No national guidelines exist to support this practice
which is at variance with other healthcare workers e.g. midwives, nurses
etc. Association members felt that issues of prescribing were best
managed by locally agreed protocols rather than the imposition of a
national protocol. ACTA members were encouraged to develop guidelines
reflecting local practice.
The guidelines for monitoring in the peri-bypass period are due to be
reviewed. Association members are encouraged to comment upon the
practicability of the current document whilst offering suggestions for any
changes which are reflective of everyday practice.
13
AOB.
Independent Practice.
Dr Whittaker wished to draw a number of matters regarding
Independent practice to the members’ attention.
From January 2006 a number of healthcare providers are set to
adopt the Newchurch relative values criteria in deciding the level of
remuneration they will pay- details available from the AAGBI. It is
anticipated that this will have a significant impact on the way by
which fees can be charged with moves towards time-sensitive
charging as opposed to fee-for-service.
AGBI have been in discussion with BUPA over levels of
remuneration for thoracic procedures and a revision exercise is in
progress.
From August 2005 maximum anaesthetic benefit payable for PTCA
standby cover will be increased to £ 165 by BUPA.
Concerns have been raised at fee structures in regard of NHS
patients treated in ISTC’s. AAGBI policy is to support and
encourage their members to negotiate for fee parity with surgeons
for any such patients.
Dr Alan Gilston
Members were informed of the death of Dr Alan Gilston,
Consultant emeritus to the National Heart Hospital and a prominent
figure in the field of cardiac anaesthesia. ACTA members expressed
their sympathy to his family and colleagues.
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Dr David Whittaker.
The Chairman congratulated Dr Whittaker – past Chairman of
ACTA-upon his election as President of the AAGBI for 2006.
Training Workload Survey
The committee had debated the requirement for a repeat of the workload
survey given the changes in training patterns secondary to the introduction
of the New Deal and EWTD. Dr Smith will be circulating Linkmen with a
new survey in 2006.
ACCEA.
The committee have asked Dr Gothard if he would be prepared to
continue ex-officio to advise ACTA in the process of supporting members
seeking National awards, to which he has agreed.
DOTM.
18.00
18th November. Belfast
There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 17.45.
J-P van Besouw
Secretary ACTA
July 2005
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