News Articles 41 - 50 of 160

13
Apr
Vacancy - Consultant Hepatologist post- Plymouth
News Type: BASL News

Consultant Hepatologist to join the team at the South West Liver Unit.

We are committed to delivering high quality liver services to both our local population and tertiary services including pre and post liver transplant care, liver cancer treatment and TIPS to patients with liver disease in the South West region. The unit provides a supportive multi-disciplinary working environment, where sub-specialty interests can be pursued. The South West Liver Unit provides a specialist pre and post liver transplant programme with close links to Kings College Hospital. The successful candidate will share inpatient and outpatient duties with existing Hepatologists to provide the highest quality care to people with all forms of liver disease. Endoscopy interests will also be supported.

There are also additional opportunities to support undergraduate medical education at University of Plymouth Peninsula Medical School.

NHS Jobs Reference: 216-10293-HEP
Consultant Hepatologist
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Informal enquiries welcomed - please contact Dr David Sheridan, Honorary Consultant Hepatologist and Service Line Director david.sherdian2@nhs.net .

Closing date: 4th May 2022

04
Apr
Join the BASL Inclusiveness Project Working Group - Expressions of Interest Open for Trainee, Nurse and AHP members
News Type: BASL News

BASL is seeking 3 new members to join the Inclusiveness Project Working Group. To express an interest in joining the working group you must be a BASL ‘In Training’ member, a ‘Nurse’ member or an ‘Affiliate’ member.

BASL is committed to promoting equality and diversity and promoting a culture that actively values difference and recognises that people from different backgrounds and experiences can bring valuable insights to enhance the way we work. Our aim is to be an inclusive organisation, committed to providing equal opportunities throughout our membership and for our employees.

The representatives will join the working group for a maximum of 2 years.

The working group helps to advise the BASL Officers on measures to help encourage and drive inclusiveness within the organisation and they meet quarterly for a couple of hours usually on a Friday afternoon via Zoom.

Application Process
Please send your expression of interest to the BASL Secretariat at judy@basl.org.uk  by the deadline of 23:59hrs on Monday 18th April 2022.

Candidates wishing to be considered maybe required to provide a short personal statement which should contain no more than approx. 200 words explaining why you want to join the Inclusiveness Project Working Group and what you can bring to the group.

Following the deadline if there is more than one applicant for each of the membership groups the BASL Secretariat will arrange to contact the candidates for a personal statement. A vote will then take place by these groups and the successful candidate will be elected by a simple majority of those members voting.

The newly elected representative will join the working group straight away.

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 Inclusiveness Project Working Group to help to shape the future of BASL and increase our inclusivity/inclusiveness.

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact judy@basl.org.uk .

04
Apr
BASL Committee Trainee Representative Expressions of Interest 2022 - Closed
News Type: BASL News

The tenure of the current BASL Committee Trainee Representative will come to an end at the end of March 2022 and BASL are now seeking expressions of interest for this post.

To apply for the post you 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.

The Trainee Representative will serve on the BASL Committee for a maximum of 2 years.

The representative will be expected to comment on all issues pertaining to training, to ensure that trainee views are heard and that the BASL Annual Meeting and Schools of Hepatology meet trainees needs. In addition, to attend BASL Committee meetings (face to face or virtual), there are usually 4 per annum, as well as to attend the Annual Meeting. A working knowledge of Twitter is desirable and a strong link with the BSG trainee representative is helpful.

Please download a full role description here >  Download BASL Trainee Rep Description_2022.pdf

Application Process

Please send your expression of interest and a short personal statement to the BASL Secretariat at judy@basl.org.uk by the deadline of 23:59 on Friday 1st April 2022.

Candidates wishing to be considered for the post are required to provide a short personal statement containing no more than approx. 300 words explaining why you want to be the BASL Trainee Representative and what you can bring to the role. Your personal statement should accompany your expressions of interest email where possible. 

Following the application deadline the BASL Secretariat will arrange for an election of the BASL In Training members and the successful candidate will be elected by a simple majority of those members voting.

The newly elected representative will take up their post in April 2022.

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 committee to help to shape the future of BASL and increase our inclusivity/inclusiveness.

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact judy@basl.org.uk .

15
Mar
Opportunities are open to score entries for the 2022 ACCEA/ACCIA awards
News Type: BASL News

The Clinical Excellence Awards are becoming the National Clinical Impact Awards to reflect the change in emphasis in our reforms. We would greatly appreciate your help to recognise, retain and reward the highest performing consultant doctors, dentists and academic GPs working in the NHS.

We are looking for assessors to join our sub-committee scoring panels to assess applications between June and July 2022 and are recruiting from across disciplines. Our assessors play a critical role in making sure that scoring is fair and impartial for all applicants.

We welcome assessors who are:
Professional members (practising consultants), who can consider applications from a peer’s point of view. This might include consultant doctors, dentists and academic GPs who are eligible to apply for an award.

Employer members (Managers from Trusts and Arm’s Length Bodies or other organisations such as ICOs employing eligible clinicians), who can consider applications from an employer’s perspective and whether the applicant brings benefits back to their organisation and the wider NHS. Examples include HR Directors, Medical Directors and Chief Executives.

Lay / Non medical professional members (objective individuals), who will be knowledgeable about the workings of the NHS and may have lay involvement in healthcare and experience of the patients’ perspective. This could include people with healthcare system experience, other professions that are not medical or retired medical professionals. Lay / non medical professional members are remunerated for their time in meetings and in assessing awards

Our commitment to creating inclusive awards
The new NCIAs seek to encourage more applications from previously under-represented groups, such as female consultants and consultants from ethnic minority backgrounds. This is to ensure fair and un-biased scoring. We recognise the importance of having wider representation on our scoring panels, too – so we particularly welcome assessors from these under-represented groups.

We hope you will volunteer to join our scoring panels
We appreciate that supporting us in this way will mean you giving your time and commitment, but we hope you’ll want to be involved in recognising the outstanding contributions of your colleagues. To help you see what’s involved, I’ve attached information about the role, the training and support we offer and how becoming an ACCIA sub-committee member could bring benefits for you.

To join us, please take a few minutes to fill in the attached forms and send them to ACCEA@dhsc.gov.uk  FAO: Omarah Adam, along with a short CV that summarises your experience. Please send these back by 25th March.

Download Background to ACCEA for prospective members.pdf

Download 2022_ACCIA Application_form_all_membership_types.pdf 

The 2022 awards round will open in April – we will confirm the exact date soon.

ACCEA Secretariat

28
Jan
BASL Equality, Diversity and Inclusiveness Strategy 2021-2024
News Type: BASL News

The BASL Equality, Diversity and Inclusiveness Strategy 2021-2024 document has been compiled as part of the BASL Inclusiveness Project and has received BASL Committee approval.

This, alongside our updated Equality, Diversity and Inclusiveness Policy and the policies that have been developed to support it can be found in the members area of our website by logging on > here .

05
Jan
IQILS Accreditation Programme Update
News Type: BASL News

2021 was a year of significant progress for the IQILS accreditation programme. The programme is in its strongest position since it launched back in 2021. The first few onsite accreditation assessments were conducted in the latter stages of 2021. We would like to congratulate the services at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and North Bristol NHS Trust on being awarded accreditation. Dr James Ferguson, the IQILS clinical lead has commented on the outstanding level of care, compassion and innovation these services have demonstrated. Several assessments will be taking place in the early part of 2022. Currently the programme has 61 registered services, 2 accredited services and 12 services are currently signed off for the level 1 standards.

Introduction to IQILS accreditation programme – Tuesday 15 February 2022, 09:30 – 11:00
If you would like to learn more about the IQILS programme.  A virtual introduction to IQILS accreditation session is being ran. This session is designed for services not yet registered to the programme and are interested in finding out more. During the session delegates will learn about:
• What is accreditation and how it can add value to your service
• The process and logistics involved in accreditation
• The overall benefits of registering

The session will be led by the Dr James Ferguson, IQILS clinical lead and Dr Andrew Yeoman, the QA lead of the IQILS programme. The session will take place via MS teams. Once you have registered an invite will be sent to all delegates with the dial in details. Registration for services is open.

Services registered to the programme receive access to the following benefits:
• The full accreditation standards
• Access to the IQILS website and self-assessment webtool
• Regular virtual training session on the accreditation process and standards
• Online repository of best practice templates and documents
• Regular newsletters on the programme with updates
• Support from the IQILS office team

If your service is interested in registering, please visit the IQILS website to sign up; https://www.iqils.org/UserRegistration/ .

Accreditation helps services to:
• independently measure themselves against national standards
• reduce variation in quality standards of their services
• demonstrate dedication to improvement, patient safety and reducing risk
• raise their profile, which can often be used to leverage support in their organisation
• highlight good practice and get targeted advice on where to focus improvement efforts

Please contact the IQILS team at askiqils@rcp.ac.uk or 0203 3075 1508 if you would like to speak to the team about the programme. IQILS has recently joined twitter, follow us @IQILS_Liver .

(Added 5/01/2022)

20
Dec
Joint BASL and BSG Statement: Information regarding new monoclonal antibody drugs against Covid-19
News Type: BASL News

With the rapid rise in cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in the UK the NHS potentially faces another surge in hospital admissions and we are all facing familiar uncertainty and drawing on our resilience mechanisms again. The uncertainty is compounded by not yet knowing the severity or otherwise compared to the Delta variant, the moderating effect of vaccination and whether enough of the population are either vaccinated or boosted to exert this effect, and how the new monoclonal antibody drugs for symptomatic mild to moderate disease in the community will impact on admissions. Below is a summary from the relevant policies, with links, for your information.

These new monocolonals now have conditional marketing authorisation for use in non-hospitalised patients in the UK (read the cas.mhra.gov.uk website alert by clicking > here ). 

  • Sotrovimab is given by single intravenous infusion and is reported to reduce the relative risk of hospitalisation or death by 85%.
  • Molnupiravir is given orally by capsules for 5 days and is reported to reduce the relative risk of hospitalisation or death by 30%.

Patients must meet all of the eligibility criteria and none of the exclusion criteria. Prehospitalised patients are eligible for treatment if:
• SARS-CoV-2 infection is confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing within the last 5 days
AND
• Onset of symptoms of COVID-193 4 within the last 5 days
AND
• A member of a ‘highest’ risk group (as defined in Appendix 1).

Symptoms listed are: feverish, chills, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, headache, red or watery eyes, body aches, loss of taste or smell, fatigue, loss of appetite, confusion, dizziness, pressure or tight chest, chest pain, stomach ache, rash, sneezing, sputum or phlegm, runny nose.

Appendix 1 includes liver disease in the following categories:
• Patients with cirrhosis Child’s-Pugh class B and C (decompensated liver disease).
• Patients with a liver transplant
• Liver patients on immune suppressive therapy (including patients with and without liver cirrhosis)
• Patients with cirrhosis Child’s-Pugh class A who are not on immune suppressive therapy (compensated liver disease)

Patients will be anxious, and as clinicians we may be contacted for advice. How the delivery of these drugs is to be organised is being worked out at local operational levels. Members are advised to make enquiries within their Trusts for local arrangements. The Liverpool COVID-19 interactions checker is a useful resource (click > here ). We checked these drugs against the more commonly used immunosuppressants and, for those not familiar with this tool, it is easy to use (no expected interactions for tacrolimus, ciclosprin, azathioprine, mycophenolate, prednisolone).

Members will no doubt be aware that casirivumab and imdevimab (Ronapreve®) has authorisation in hospitalised patients admitted with acute COVID-19. This seems to be less effective in patients with the Omicron variant. Thus where Omicron accounts for more than 50% of the local hospital prevalence, Ronapreve is only recommended where genotyping results are available and confirm infection with a non-Omicron variant. Where genotyping is not available or genotyping confirms infection with the Omicron variant, the December 2021 rapid policy statement advises nMABs can only be offered as part of a formal trial.

Nosocomial acquisition is a bit different. Ronapreve can be used in non-Omicron cases where known, meeting high risk criteria and Sotrovimab has also now been authorised for hospitalised patients who acquire Omicron variant COVID-19 during their hospital stay and meet high risk criteria - for our patients with liver disease, these are the same as those listed above. (read the cas.mhra.gov.uk website alert by clicking > here ). 

Again, members are advised to check their local Trust policies, but nosocomial acquisition of COVID-19 in patients with liver disease may well meet criteria for the use of these drugs so we thought we would draw your attention to this.

Hepatologists and gastroenterologists have faced very challenging changes to practice over the last two years and rising numbers of patients with liver disease. We know the changing Covid-19 landscape continues to bring new challenges. We hope you all stay safe and well during this period.

Rebecca Jones, President BASL
John Dillon, Vice President Hepatology, BSG

Download Joint BASL_BSG message re monoclonal antibody drugs vs COVID-19.pdf

(Added December 20th 2021)

26
Nov
THE GUTS UK / DR FALK PHARMA 2022 AWARDS ARE OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS
News Type: BASL News

The Guts UK/Dr Falk awards recognise the achievements of those who bring new knowledge and insight to the field of gastroenterology, pancreatology and hepatology. These awards are an opportunity to achieve national recognition as well as the financial support for career progression.

Awards available:

  • A £1,000 prize for the best essay on gastroenterology or hepatology research personally undertaken by medical students who were on an intercalated BSc/MRes/MSc/MPH/MBPhD* course during the previous academic year (2020-21).
  • Four £1,500 prizes for medical students taking full-time science degrees (BSc/MRes/MSc/MPH/MBPhD*) focusing on gastrointestinal or liver-related disease in the current academic year (2021-22).
  • Two £2,500 awards for F1/F2 doctors to facilitate prospective research in an area relevant to gastroenterology or hepatology.
  • A £1,000 award for primary and secondary care gastrointestinal/liver nurses for initiatives that have improved patient care. (Nominate your colleague today for this award).
  • A £1,000 award for dietitians working in gastroenterology or hepatology for initiatives that have improved patient care.
  • Up to £10,000 is available for UK-based gastroenterology/hepatology SpR trainees who would like to conduct an audit or quality improvement project in any area of gastroenterology, liver disease or nutrition.

Applications will close at 17:00 on 28th February 2022

For further information and to apply: https://gutscharity.org.uk/research/grants-and-awards/the-guts-uk-dr-falk-awards/ 

* PhD students should note that they may apply for the medical student prize only once during their three-year studentship and that they may apply for the essay prize when their PhD has been completed.

23
Nov
Foundation for Liver Research - Small Grants Scheme
News Type: BASL News

First Call for Applications

The Foundation for Liver Research has set up a new Small Grants Scheme in memory of the late Professor Roger Williams CBE (1931-2020). This scheme is open to any applicant in the UK.

Outline of the Small Grants Scheme

An Application form can be downloaded from the Foundation for Liver Research website > here

The closing date for the first Call is 1st March 2022.

For details of eligibility and the application process, contact Natalie Day, Chief Executive of the Foundation for Liver Research n.day@researchinliver.org.uk .

02
Nov
National Survey - investigating the attitudes of UK specialists to liver fibrosis assessment and non-invasive liver fibrosis tests
News Type: BASL News

BASL members are invited to take part in a national survey. 

As part of the Early Detection of Liver Disease SIG, we are asking if you could take a moment to complete this short survey of attitudes towards fibrosis assessment and use of non-invasive fibrosis tests.

Gathering this type of information is important to gauge what is current practice and where barriers lie to the use of these tests.

The survey takes only 2 mins, and we’d be hugely grateful for your participation and opinions!

Link to survey: here

Kind Regards,

Kush Abeysekera
Ankur Srivastava
Clinical Research Fellow
Consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist
University of Bristol
Southmead Hospital, North Bristol Trust