WELCOME TO THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF THE LIVER

Deadline for nominations - 23:59hrs Monday 12th August 2024

There are a number of opportunities coming up for members to serve across BASL, BLTG and BLNA committees, so please get involved and help to shape the future of BASL.

BASL COMMITTEE POSTS:

BASL President Elect - elected by the membership and will serve for one year as President Elect and for up to three years as President.
The President is one of three principal officers of the Association (President, Treasurer and Secretary) and chairs the annual Scientific Meeting and the meetings of the Governing Board. The post holder will shadow the BASL President from October 2024, taking up the role of President at the end of the Business Meeting of the Association in October 2025.

The post of President Elect, like other committee posts, is open to the whole membership irrespective of their professional background or their type of Hospital.

NB: President, Secretary and Treasurer post holders must have a different Institutional affiliation within the UK. The post holder shall be registered with Companies House in the UK as a Directors of BASL and registered with the Charities Commission as Trustees.

BASL Clinical Research Lead – elected by the membership and will serve for a period of up to three years and can be re-elected once.
Please find a role description here:  Download BASL Clinical Research Lead Role Guide_2024.pdf

NB: the post shall be registered with Companies House in the UK as a Director of BASL and registered with the Charities Commission as a Trustee.

BASL Trainee Representative – elected by the membership and will serve for a period of up to two years.
Candidates for this post must be a BASL Medically Qualified Member in Training and hold a national training number (NTN). The position is open to all trainees who are at least 24 months pre-CCT
Please find a role description here:  Download BASL Trainee Representative Role Description_2024.pdf

BLTG COMMITTEE POSTS:

BLTG Chair Elect - elected by the BASL BLTG membership and will serve for a period of one year as BLTG Chair Elect and up to three years as BLTG Chair. The Chair is one of three principal officers (BLTG Chair, BLTG secretary and BASL Treasurer) of the British Liver Transplant Group (BLTG) and sits on the BASL Governing Board.

NB: the above post shall be registered with Companies House in the UK as a Director of BASL and registered with the Charities Commission as a Trustee.

BLTG Conference and Education lead - elected by the BASL BLTG membership and will serve for a period of up to three years.
The post holder will have a key role in the planning and organisation of the BLTG annual meeting as well as other training and educational events.

BLTG Nursing Representative (2 posts) - elected by the BASL BLTG membership and will serve for a period of up to three years.
The 2 x nursing representatives represent patient care before and after liver transplantation respectively.
Nominations are open from Transplant Co-ordinators and nursing representative’s.

BLNA COMMITTEE POST:

BLNA Chair Elect - elected by the BASL BLNA membership and will serve for one year as BLNA Chair Elect and for up to three years as BLNA Chair.
To be eligible to nominate someone for the position of Chair Elect; the proposer and seconder must be a registered nurse and any nomination should include your NMC PIN number.
Please find a role description here:  Download BLNA Chair Elect Role Description_2024.pdf

NB: the above post shall be registered with Companies House in the UK as a Director of BASL and registered with the Charities Commission as a Trustee.

All post holders will take up their roles after the BASL Annual Business Meeting in October 2024.

BASL is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of its work. It is actively promoting equal opportunities and access for all our members regardless of their background. We would, therefore, encourage you to consider joining the BASL, BLTG or BLNA committees to help to shape the future of BASL and increase our inclusivity/inclusiveness.

NOMINATION PROCESS:

Please send your nominations, clearly stating the Committee; BASL BLTG BLNA and the position that your nomination is for to the Secretariat at judy@basl.org.uk by the deadline of 23:59hrs Monday 12th August 2024.

Candidates wishing to be considered for nomination must be a member of BASL and will require one BASL member to propose them and a second BASL member to confirm their suitability for the role in writing. (Proposing and seconding of candidates can be done by email.)

A personal statement, containing no more than approx. 300 words, will be requested at the time of nomination from all candidates. Permission will be requested to share the personal statements with the whole BASL membership. (Personal statements are intended for this purpose only.)

Remember for the Trainee Representative post - candidates must be a BASL Medically Qualified Member in Training and hold a national training number (NTN). The position is open to all trainees who are at least 24 months pre-CCT

Remember for the BLNA Chair Elect post - to be eligible to nominate someone for the position the proposer and seconder must be a registered nurse and any nomination should include their NMC PIN number.

If more than 1 candidate is nominated for any of the above Committee posts, the BASL Secretariat will arrange for an election of members. The successful candidate for each post will be elected by a simple majority of those members voting.

Newly elected committee members will be announced at the next Business Meeting of the Association that is being held during the BASL Annual Meeting in Harrogate on Friday 11th October 2024, and join the respective committees thereafter.

If you need any more information, please do not hesitate to contact admin@basl.org.uk or contact the current post holder.

We look forward to hearing from you.

The European Medicines Association (EMA) issued a statement on Obeticholic acid (Ocaliva) for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) on 28 06 2024.

The EMA has recommended that the marketing authorisation for Ocaliva be revoked in the European Union following results of the COBALT trial, 747-302 . In the UK EMA recommendations do not apply, as we are regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). At present, there are no changes to the recommendations on use of Obeticholic acid in PBC from the MHRA or the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and so current prescribing practices should NOT change.

We shall update the UK liver community if there are any changes to the recommendations on the use of Obeticholic acid.

Please find the link to the longer statement to follow > Here .

Pabrinex IV will be out of stock from July/ August 2024 until September 2025, due to supply issues relating to manufacturing regulations issued by the EU.
Pabrinex IM will be permanently discontinued from December 2024. Pabrinex is only used in the UK, with thiamine IV/ IM being routinely used globally.

At present the plan is to obtain unlicensed IV and IM thiamine from Europe with dosing guidance available via the SPS link below.

Applications for the licensing of thiamine IM and IV are due to go to the MHRA, which will hopefully be granted before the end of the year.

It is important to note if a Patient Group Direction (PGD) is being used (often used in community setting) only licensed products can be used in this setting. Therefore IM Pabrinex should be conserved for this purpose.

The following has been published online by the DHSC Specialist Pharmacy Service – see link below:

Using and prescribing thiamine in alcohol dependence – SPS - Specialist Pharmacy Service – The first stop for professional medicines advice

Joanna Henry, Gastroenterology Directorate Pharmacist, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Trust
Sital Shah, Chair British hepatology Pharmacy Group , Consultant Pharmacist, King’s College hospital, London