Merry Christmas!

I want to wish all Nurses / AHPs a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! It looks as if 2012 is going to be an interesting - and busy - year for us all. I look forward to meeting many of you during the course of the year but feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions or are planning any events.

Registration now open for the DDF

AUGIS will be joining colleagues from BASL, BAPEN and BSG for the first UK Digestive Disorders Federation Conference in Liverpool in 2012 (17-20 June). A number of other GI associations will also be joining us and this conference will replace the annual scientific meetings of the four sponsoring societies.

The meeting is expected to attract in excess of 4,000 delegates from across Europe and beyond.

There will be an identifiable AUGIS programme running through the conference with dedicated AUGIS plenary sessions and an integrated nursing programme running throughout the body of the conference as well as sessions for each of our sections - BOMSS, GBIHPBA and OG.

Registration is now open for the DDF - I look forward to seeing you there!

Congratulations to Fiona Macharg, Specialist OG cancer dietitian, Royal Surrey Hospital, Guilford, winner of the best affiliate presentation in Belfast. Her presentation was entitled: 'Long term use of feeding jejunostomy following oesophagectomy.'

Calling all BOMSS members

BOMSS members - we need your help!

Following on from Mr Conor Magee’s presentation to Nurses / AHPs at this year’s AUGIS conference in Belfast your help is needed to gain more information on the incidence and management of late hypoglycaemia following gastric bypass surgery.

Please visit the website below to complete the questionnaire

www.wlsinfo.org.uk/index/rheostat

We're changing our name!

Due to some confusion about who should be registered as an ‘Affiliate’ it has been decided by the AUGIS council that the ‘Affiliate’ membership category will be re-named as ‘Nurse/Allied Health Professional’.

‘Nurse/Allied Health Professional’ more clearly defines the group membership and will formally be ratified at next year’s AGM. The annual fee remains £15.

Looking ahead to Belfast

I’m looking forward to welcoming everyone to Belfast (September 15 and 16) for the fifth Affiliate programme of the annual AUGIS conference.

Following the success of last year’s affiliate programme, there will again be two affiliate sessions, one focusing on UGI disease and one on bariatric care.

The sessions won’t clash with the main scientific programme so delegates can benefit from making the most of the whole conference.

The UGI cancer session will include a mix of dietetic expertise on the nutritional needs of patients with pancreatic cancer and health psychology research on the emotional distress of oesophageal cancer survivors.

The bariatric session has a strong dietetic focus on the nutritional needs of bariatric patients in intensive care and the issues relating to the extended role of the dietitian.

I’m confident that both sessions will provoke plenty of discussion and furnish us with new knowledge and motivation to inform and shape our practice.

Call for abstracts

I'm putting out a call for affiliate abstracts – please submit your abstract for the AUGIS Scientific Meeting (September 15-16, 2011) which will be held in Belfast by May 16.

This year, there is a chance for nurses and dietitian abstracts to be presented at the affiliate session in addition to poster presentations. There will still be a prize for the best poster presentation.

For further information please contact me at jane.tallett@nnuh.nhs.uk

April 15 is Oesophago-Gastric Cancer Awareness Day

This year’s National Oesophago-Gastric Cancer Awareness Day, led by Dawn Elliott, has been announced. It will be on Friday 15 April. Please go to the link on the affiliate webpage of the AUGIS website (www.augis.org.uk) for Dawn’s update and further information.

Please send in photos of your local campaigns to share with other affiliates on the website.

Secondly, just to keep you informed, plans are well underway for this years AUGIS conference in Belfast 15-16 September. The format for the affiliate section will mirror last year, with separate sessions for Upper GI disease and bariatric care. There will guest speakers for each session as well as the opportunity for affiliates to submit an abstract for presentation. So this is an advanced invitation for you to contact me if you have a piece of research or service development project to present. Email me at jane.tallett@nnuh.nhs.uk

A qualified success!

A recent exciting development has been the validation by Leeds Metropolitan University of the Advanced Professional Diploma and Professional Diploma in Bariatrics and Metabolic Management, which can potentially be topped up to a Masters Degree.

The programmes have been jointly developed by the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS) and Leeds Metropolitan University. The aim of the programmes is to facilitate the critical application of theory to practice to enable professionals to co-ordinate, deliver, manage and evaluate the care of individuals requiring bariatric and / or metabolic support in either a surgical or community setting.

These courses are suitable for professionals working in a broad range of services to meet the needs of people requiring bariatric and / or metabolic management support. Significantly, in health, the course will be available to registered practitioners from multi-professional groups including nurses, dieticians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and medical staff. For further information please contact either Dr Deborah J Fox, Course Leader, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds ( tel 0113 812 4480, email d.fox@leedsmet.ac.uk); or Andi Fox-Hiley, Training end Education Development Manager, Medical Education Leeds, St James University Hospital, Leeds (tel 0113 206 6152, email Andrea.Fox-Hiley@leedsth.nhs.uk).

Adverts for the courses can also be found in the ‘Around the Regions’ section of this website.