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Developing Day Case Units - imperative for optimal patient care in Interventional Radiology
Dear BSIR members,
We are pleased to announce that the article Developing Day Case Units - imperative for optimal patient care in Interventional Radiology (authors: T. Bryant, R. Ahmad, A. Diamantopoulos, R. Lakshminarayan, C. Bent, J. Taylor, R.A. Morgan) is now available to view online.
Please click on the link below before March 15th 2023 to be taken directly to the latest version of the article on ScienceDirect, to read or download. No sign up, registration or fees are required.
Share Link:
https://authors.elsevier.com/
Access to beds for interventional radiology patients: improving patient care
Dear BSIR Members,
We are pleased to announce that the article Access to beds for interventional radiology patients – improving patient care (authors: T. Bryant, R. Ahmad, A. Diamantopoulos, R. Lakshminarayan, C. Bent, J. Taylor, R.A. Morgan) is now available to view online.
Please click on the link below before March 16, 2023 to be taken directly to the latest version of the article on ScienceDirect, to read or download. No sign up, registration or fees are required.
Share Link:
https://authors.elsevier.com/
ST1 IR Recruitment
Dear BSIR member,
You will hopefully be aware that prospective radiology trainees can preference a CR(I) post ie ST1 IR training post.
Some training schemes are not making this widely known.
I would like to strongly encourage you all to speak to your TPDs and HOS and encourage them to put forward IR posts for ST1s and publicise this fact.
Access to IR badged ST1 posts is key to recruitment into IR. We must ensure this scheme succeeds!
This is a link to the RCR guidance on the process. Please circulate to anyone who may be interested.
Some key excerpts are below.
https://www.rcr.ac.uk/sites/de
From 2022, applicants to Clinical Radiology (CR) who have an early interest in Interventional Radiology (IR) will have the option to preference posts with an Interventional Radiology interest at the ST1 recruitment stage.
The ability to preference available posts opens following the interview process. At this point applicants will decide whether they wish to opt for the CR(I) pathway.
Thank you very much
Best wishes
Phil Haslam
President BSIR
Social Media - members conduct
Dear BSIR members,
In light of some recent events involving our official BSIR Twitter page we wanted to write to all our members regarding use of social media. We appreciate the many benefits regarding patient engagement, improved access to information and professional networking that responsible use of social media can promote in our growing specialty. Just a gentle reminder of a brief summary of the GMC guidance:
- Maintain patient confidentiality
- Clearly separate professional and personal profiles
- Disclose any conflicts of interest
- Treat colleagues fairly and with respect
- Ensure your conduct does not undermine trust in the profession - any views posted may be reasonably perceived by the public to represent the views of the profession more widely
- Professional standards do not change when using social media rather than face-to-face communication
- Posting online is subject to the same laws of copyright and defamation as verbal communication
- Anonymous content can be traced back to origin
- Adhere to your employing Trust/organisation’s social media policy
You can read the full guidance and other related sources here.
BSIR Annual General Meeting 2022
The BSIR Annual General Meeting will take place on Thursday 3rd November 2022, 14:00 - 15:45, Lomond Auditorium, SEC, Glasgow.
Agenda for the meeting and draft minutes of the AGM held on 09/12/2021 attached for your reference.
Members who wish to raise any questions / other matters for discussion should contact the Secretary: Dr Raghuram Lakshminarayan or Ms Julie Ellison with an outline of the questions / points they wish to raise by Friday 28th October. Contact: council@bsir.org.
BSIR AGM 2022 Agenda
BSIR AGM 2021 Draft minutes
BSIR / RCR Graham Plant Travelling Professor
BSIR / RCR Graham Plant Travelling Professor
BSIR / RCR are pleased to announce that Dr Ian McCafferty has been appointed as Travelling Professor from September 2022 to August 2023.
The role of the travelling professor is to visit a set number of training programmes to deliver lectures or study days, one of which is to be recorded, over an agreed period. The BSIR and RCR contribute matched funding for each professorship. The total sum covers travel expenses for the appointee, filming and administrative costs including the appointments process.
The purpose of the award is:
- To highlight the radiology specialty in the UK
- To promote best practice with regards to acquisition and reporting techniques
- To promote the radiology specialty as a specialist interest in future careers
- To provide specific radiology teaching at both trainee and consultant level to centres that might not have access to such training opportunities.
BSIR statement on Alteplase shortage
Statement from the British Society of Interventional Radiology
on Alteplase shortage
24th August 2022
The British Society of Interventional Radiology (BSIR) has been notified of the shortage of tissue plasminogen activator (Alteplase & Tenecteplase). These medications are used by interventional radiologists in managing potentially life-threatening conditions like massive pulmonary embolism, limb threatening conditions like acute limb ischaemia & deep vein thrombosis amongst other clinical indications. The national patient safety alert (NatPSA/2022/006/DHSC) on 3rd August 2022 has highlighted the shortage of Alteplase and Tenecteplase injections. The supply constraints are expected to last till early 2023.
The British Society of Interventional Radiology would like to reiterate the best practise management of thrombolysis for various interventional procedures.
- Alteplase is the pharmaceutical agent of choice for use in the interventions for massive pulmonary embolism, acute deep vein thrombosis, acute limb ischaemia, thrombosed fistula interventions and central venous catheters.
- In the event of insufficient stocks of Alteplase, alternate fibrinolytic agents like Urokinase could be substituted in consultation with your local pharmacy service.
- Mechanical thrombectomy can be considered in selected cases to treat or to facilitate treatment of venous or arterial thrombosis.
BSIR Council
BSIR Elections 2022 Results
We wish to thank all members who participated in this year’s elections, both those who applied for positions and members who cast their votes.
Results will also be uploaded onto the BSIR website under the News and Members General Information sections.
The new committee members will take up their posts after the Annual General Meeting in November.
BSIR Council
BSIR Committee Elections 2022 Results
Registries & Audit Committee
Simon Travis
Communications Committee
Yuri Gupta
Education Committee
Hans-Ulrich Laasch
Membership & Rules Committee
Lakshmi Ratnam
Scientific Programme Committee
Matthew Gibson
Safety & Quality Committee
Peter Mezes
Women & Diversity Committee
Saira Sayeed
BSIRT Elections 2022 Results
Vice Chair
Katrina Harborne
BSIRT Secretary
Hanna Maroof
Junior Member Registries & Audit Committee
Nadir Khan
Ali Zafar
Junior Member Communications Committee
Linda Watkins
Junior Member Education Committee
Ajit Kishore
Tymoteusz Turlejski
Junior Member Membership & Rules Committee
Alex Hardman
Scientific Programme Committee
Zubair Sarang
Safety & Quality Committee
Michael Moreton-Smith
Women & Diversity Committee
Jade Scott-Blagrove
BSIRT Foundation Year Doctor Representative Elections 2022
Foundation Dr Representative
Mihir Rao
SIRNR Elections 2022 Results
SIRNR Committee
Jessica Cutri
BSIR SEARCHABLE MEMBER DATABASE : NEW MEMBER FUNCTION
We have developed a Search Engine within the BSIR website for anyone to search for members.
In order to be a part of this searchable database, you need to input your details as you'd like them to appear (these are not the same details held by the BSIR for membership).
To be included in the Search Engine:
1. Login to www.bsir.org
2. In the My Locker section click My Account
3. Click Update Searchable Data Preferences
4. Chose if you want your data to be available to the Public, BSIR Members or just to BSIR Council/Committees
5. Fill out your details as you want them to appear in the Searchable Database (remembering if you chose it to be public, everyone can see the details you enter!)
6. Tick the box to agree to the Terms and Conditions/Privacy Policies of the BSIR
7. Check the boxes to indicate which procedures you do (adult/paeds) and whether you'd be willing to talk on each procedure
8. Click Submit and you will then be visible within the Searchable Database which can be accessed from the homepage by clicking "Search for an IR doctor" at the top of the page or here:
www.bsir.org/search-members
All the best,
Neil Gupta
Membership & Rules Committee
National Clinical Impact Awards 2022 - NCIA (Formerly Clinical Excellence Awards)
ACCIA Advisory Committee on Clinical Impact Awards 2022 Round (Formerly ACCEA Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards)
The ACCIA have now opened the 2022 round of clinical impact awards which will close at 17:00 hours on Wednesday 22nd June 2022. Any applications received after this time will not be accepted.
See below earlier deadline if you would like a BSIR citation.
Who can apply for an award?
The Advisory Committee on Clinical Impact Awards (ACCIA) will accept applications for national awards from consultants working for the NHS in England and Wales. ACCIA no longer renews awards, all awards going forward will be classified as new. Awards will be held for 5 years, after which a further new award can be applied for.
Making an application
Guidance can be found on the BMA website for Fellows and members who are considering applying for NCIA awards and would like more information on the current situation and potential financial consequences.
To make an application, go to the ACCIA the applicants’ guide and application form before submitting an application via the ACCIA Portal.
Please note the following significant changes that the ACCIA have made to the application:
- you only need to submit one online application for scoring
- you can only have one ranking and citation from one relevant national nominating organisation (NNO)
- the aim after the transition period is for up to 600 new NCIAs each year in England – split 330 x N1 at £20,000, 200 x N2 at £30,000 and 70 x N3 at £40,000 – with up to 37 awards in Wales
- scoring groups and numbers are balanced to optimise committee diversity and help to avoid unconscious bias
- applications from those with a disability or extenuating circumstances are welcomed with the relevant supporting information
- all applications are scored against the same criteria
- each region has an equal opportunity for success with an indicative number of awards at each level (N1, N2 or N3) based on application numbers
- tied applications are rescored by the National Reserve Sub-committee (NRES), along with those identified through national governance review
- regional sub-committees and the main committee recommend applicants for national awards to ministers for them to approve
- each region’s highest scoring applicants are pooled nationally and rescored by the N3 committee to agree those most deserving of the highest award – those who are unsuccessful at N3 receive an N2 award
- if you successfully gain an award, it will last 5 years, backdated to 1 April 202
Citations
For the 2022 round, ACCIA is introducing new arrangements for the submission of citations by nominating bodies, such as the BSIR. These are:
- Citations can only be provided for new applications only
- Citations can only be provided for who are ranked highest by the BSIR – with a strict cap placed on the total number of citations available. The BSIR NCIA committee will oversee the scoring of applications to produce an ‘BSIR ranked list’
Applicants with new applications wishing to be included in the scoring and ranking exercise, with a view to obtaining an BSIR citation, should submit their application forms to council@bsir.org by 17:00 on Friday 20th May 2022. We accept this is a tight deadline and therefore, we accept that candidates may continue to tweak their applications online. We will use the information submitted by May 20th to score and rank application forms.
An applicant who requests a citation from us but does not achieve a ranking place can continue with their application but will not be eligible for a citation.
We will acknowledge receipt of your citation request within 24 working hours. If you do not receive an acknowledgement, please get in touch via council@bsir.org
Informing you of the outcome of your citation request
The BSIR will notify all applicants by 14 June 2022, whether they have been successful for the Society's support. For those who are successful, it is your responsibility to submit your application via the ACCIA portal, as the BSIR ranking and citation can only be applied if your application has been uploaded.
Applicants should be aware that it is their responsibility and not BSIR’s to ensure that they complete the form on ACCIA’s website and submit it before the closing date – 17:00 on Wednesday 22 June 2022.
Dr Phil Haslam
BSIR President
BSIR/RCR Graham Plant Visiting Professorship 2022 - now open for applications
OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS
Closing Date: 5pm, 31st May 2022
Background:
This visiting Professorship is jointly funded by the RCR and BSIR in memory of Dr Graham Plant, a founder of the BSIR who was an enthusiastic teacher and supporter of education for interventional radiology.
Nature:
The visiting Professor will be expected to undertake six to eight visits to UK training programmes, over a period of 12 months, to deliver lectures and undertake appropriate workshops or small group teaching as part of each visit. One lecture will be filmed and made available online. The purpose of the visits is educational: to highlight the role of IR in improving patient care and academic IR in the development of advanced imaging and procedural techniques, along with providing IR teaching at both trainee and consultant level at centres that might otherwise not have access to advanced subspecialty techniques or the field of interest of the successful candidate.
At the end of the professorship, the successful candidate will be required to render a report and deliver a lecture at the next BSIR annual meeting.
Funding:
Up to £5,000.
Eligibility:
The Professorship is open to interventional radiologists who are Fellows of the RCR in good standing, members of the BSIR, resident in the United Kingdom and in active clinical practice at the time of the application and the award/visit.
To apply:
Candidates should submit: a current curriculum vitae; a 200-400 word description of the applicant’s teaching record and a description of why they would be suitable for the professorship; and a list of proposed workshop/lecture titles suitable for presentation to the training programmes. An Appointments Board combined of members of The Royal College of Radiologists and the British Society of Interventional Radiology will consider applications. The decision of the Appointments Board is final and binding, applicants will be informed of the outcome as soon as possible after the decision has been approved.
Applications should be sent to Julie Ellison at council@bsir.org to arrive no later than the specified deadline.
Any enquiries should be addressed to QATraining@rcr.ac.uk
Interventional radiology in the 21st century: planning for the future
Dear Members,
Council & I would like to highlight this recent article published in clinical radiology (please see link below) in which we discuss how we plan for the future, and the current hurdles to our progression. There are many good points in the article that we need to work on to achieve our goals – admission rights, bed holding, direct referrals and ST1 admission with visibility. This will ultimately give us the clinical independence that we deserve and allow us to sit alongside other surgical specialities equally.
Please be reassured that council has not forgotten the vote to become a clinical speciality, and ultimately this remains our goal. However, we need to ensure we get the pillars that support independent clinical practice in place, so that when the opportunity / acceptance is granted we can progress the vote.
Hope to see as many of you as possible in Glasgow in December.
Kind regards
Dr Ian McCafferty
BSIR President
CLINICAL RADIOLOGY EDITORIAL| VOLUME 76, ISSUE 12, P865-869, DECEMBER 01, 2021
Title: Interventional radiology in the 21st century: planning for the future
Authors: R. Morgan, T. Cleveland, M. Hamady, R. Uberoi, I. McCafferty, P. Haslam, R. Kasthuri, M. Johnston.
Link https://www.clinicalradio
BSIR Annual General Meeting 2021
The BSIR Annual General Meeting will take place on Thursday 9th December 2021, 14:20 - 15:10 at the SEC in Glasgow.
Agenda for the meeting and draft minutes of the virtual AGM held on 26/11/2020 attached for your reference.
Members who wish to raise any questions / other matters for discussion should contact the Secretary: Professor Mo Hamady or Ms Julie Ellison with an outline of the questions / points they wish to raise by Friday 19th November 2021. Contact: council@bsir.org.
BSIR do have the facility to pre-record/video your question prior to the meeting and stream at the AGM – if you are interested please submit your question along with contact details (including mobile) to council@bsir.org by Monday 15th November 2021.
VASCULAR SURGERY TRAINING A summary and guidance for radiology trainers & trainees 2021
GUIDANCE on TRAINING PROVISION in VASCULAR INTERVENTIONAL PROCEDURES (To support the curricular requirements of vascular surgery trainees)
This document has been produced as a replacement for previous iteration dated September 2016 and is the result of the introduction of the 2021 versions of both the Interventional Radiology and Vascular Surgery curricula. Henceforth, use of the 2016 document should cease.
Click here to view.
Joint statement on collaboration between the Vascular Society (VS) and The British Society of Interventional Radiology (BSIR) June 2021
Please view the Joint Statement on collaboration here.
BSIR / Vascular Society Update 22.04.2020
Dear Colleagues,
We had our first and very constructive virtual Zoom meeting between representatives of the Vascular Society and the British Society of Interventional Radiologists on 22nd April. This is part of our ongoing informal discussions between the two societies.
IR Speciality Vote Result
Dear Membership,
I write to inform you that the recent vote at the AGM was strongly in favour of council pursuing speciality status with 79.5% of votes.
The FAQ’s and debate at the ASM demonstrated that there is uncertainty in this process, and I am sure that there will be hurdles to overcome, but the first step has been made.
We need to keep to simple principles in this process to allow the appropriate training of interventional radiologists (image guided surgeons) for the future. We would remain in the Royal College of Radiologists, diagnostic radiology would be central to our training and we need to ensure that run through training will allow individuals to cross over to diagnostic and vice versa. We also need to support those diagnostic radiologists who wish to perform a range of interventional procedures.
I feel this is the beginning of a long process that is essential for our future and we will keep you informed as the process progresses.
Kind regards
Dr Ian McCafferty
BSIR President
Professor Anna Maria Belli Travelling Grant
Please click here to view the objectives and criteria for the Professor Anna Maria Belli Travelling Grant.
VS BSIR Joint Statement
The British Society of Interventional Radiology (BSIR) and Vascular Society (VS) have issued a joint statement following a successful meeting held 20th June 2019. To see the full statement CLICK HERE
Joint Statement from the British Society of Interventional Radiologists and the Vascular Society
Joint Statement from the British Society of Interventional Radiologists and The Vascular Society
RCR and BSIR response to GIRFT report for vascular surgery
The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) and the British Society for Interventional Radiology (BSIR) welcome the publication of the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme report1 for vascular surgery and the drive to achieve efficiencies in delivery of services and improve the quality of patient care.
We welcome especially the recognition given to the need for an increase in the interventional radiology workforce who are essential to the delivery of vascular services, particularly in patients who need care urgently. The challenges in delivering seven-day services are all too familiar to radiologists, who already deliver this for diagnostic imaging in a very challenging environment of personnel and funding.
We concur that the formation of networks to deliver consistent standards of care across organisational boundaries is important. However, unlike vascular surgery, interventional radiology services more regularly deliver emergency and urgent care to patients, including treatment of sepsis, acute bleeding, obstetrics, renal replacement and trauma. While being supportive of the recommended NHS England model of hub and spoke networks, it is critical that these do not destabilise the ability to deliver urgent care to patients located outside the vascular networks.
One important objective of the GIRFT process is the efficient procurement of devices and consumables. We welcome progress in this regard with the implementation of the NHS Future Operating Model. However, the coding process and tariff reimbursement of interventional radiology procedures remains problematic for many trusts and we would welcome further tariff development beyond HRG4+. This would enable funding of the minimally invasive and innovative treatments which patients call for.
We agree that there is a need to improve the collection of outcome data. The national audit programme for interventional radiology procedures is incompletely delivered by the National Vascular Registry, which was adapted for interventional radiology procedures and requires modification. Work is continuing in this regard. Such registries are only as good as the data that is included, and trusts are urged to support the development of infrastructure and allow physicians sufficient time to record meaningful data.
There are now over 30 clinical leads for the GIRFT programme and we look forward to integration across those workstreams. The radiology GIRFT process is continuing and will inevitably explore effective cross-specialty partnerships, which we are confident will clarify the direction of travel.
We also hope the positive outcomes of the GIRFT process, which apply to England only, can be extended to the three devolved UK nations and we look forward to helping in that process.
1 Vascular Surgery: GIRFT Programme National Specialty Report [link]
‘Top Tips’ for Reconfiguring Vascular Services
These ‘top tips’ are aimed at anyone, and everyone, involved in the reconfiguration of local vascular services to produce a united network of partner hospitals. They are based on practical experience of reorganisation and have been compiled from the experience of all disciplines within vascular services together with their commissioning and Public Health colleagues.
Please click the link below to view download document.
Health Education England’s Learning Solution – Alpha phase complete and service assessment passed
Dear Colleagues
Please see below for an update on the progress of Health Education England’s Learning Solution project. Many of you have been involved in the project at some point to date so we were keen to share with you the exciting milestone it has now reached.
Health Education England’s Learning Solution – Alpha phase complete and service assessment passed
Health Education England’s (HEE) Learning Solution project has reached a new milestone by completing the alpha* phase of the development. This phase culminated in passing all aspects of the service assessment giving permission for it to move onto the next part of the process, which is the beta* development phase.
HEE’s Learning Solution will provide access to a full range of resources, guidance and educational innovations across the NHS, social care and higher education which can also be shared, signposted, evaluated and developed. As well as helping to drive up quality, the Learning Solution will help promote and harness innovation and draw on the best practice, talent and projects within and beyond the NHS.
Neil Ralph, Health Education England’s National Programme Lead for the Technology Enhanced Learning Programme, said: “This is a very exciting and much anticipated project for HEE. As well as being a resource for the wider health and social care workforce we believe it will support and feed into the work that is taking place right across HEE.”
The report from the 18 point Digital Service Standard assessment, which provides feedback and recommendations for the beta phase, can be found on the Digital Health blog.
For more information about the Learning Solution project visit www.hee.nhs.uk/tel
*Alpha and beta phases refer to the agile methodology being used for the development of the Learning Solution, which is commonly used in the development of digital products.
With kind regards
Alex
Alex Drinkall
Stakeholder Manager
TEL Programme and e-Learning for Healthcare
Health Education England
2nd Floor | Stewart House | Russell Square | London | WC1B 5DN
HYBRID FACILITIES
BSIR has been asked to advise on the development of so called hybrid facilities. These facilitate combined image guided procedures and open surgery. They may also be referred to as Interventional Radiology Theatres and others. A number of hospitals and organisations are investing substantial funds into such facilities, to improve the care of vascular, cardiac and trauma patients. Most will not find it financially viable to have more than one such suite.
BSIR was invited by the MHRA, to contribute to a Joint Working Group, which issued a report in 2010. This report was precipitated by a number of reports to the MHRA of EVAR (endovascular aneurysm repair) devices being placed in environments with poor imaging equipment. This was resulting in poor device placement, and high radiation doses to patients and operators. The subsequent report highlighted the need for improved facilities, and provided information intended to give details on the facilities that NHS and other organisations should aspire to provide. Of note, it was specifically stated that there was a need for back up imaging facilities in close proximity.
It was also recognised that, at the time, there was a preference for such facilities to be located close to a theatre environment (to allow for anesthetic and recovery areas). In the intervening time, Major Trauma Centres have developed, and the need to accommodate the rapid treatment of such patients. As a consequence of this, and other, changes there has been an expansion of the routine nature of delivery of anesthetic and recovery facilities outside theatre complexes. It has also become clearer that there is a pivotal role of Interventional Radiology (IR) in bleeding control. Trauma investigation and treatment (including image guided techniques) need to be co-located with Emergency Departments.
As a result, BSIR considers that, whilst the underlying principles of good imaging and environments remain current, requirements (and modern practice) of trauma care have changed the landscape of hybrid facilities. In the modern environment, these need to not just cater for EVAR delivery, but also trauma care. IR departments are generally located close to diagnostic radiology, CT scanners and Emergency Departments, ensuring safe and rapid patient treatment pathways. Such places offer considerable advantages in terms of back up imaging, power supply, power injectors and disposables, which are essential to the resilience for delivery of trauma care and combined image guided/open surgery. In many circumstances, these needs may outweigh other factors, making them more functional and economically viable if placed close to other IR and imaging facilities.
E Referral Changes
Many RCR Fellows are routinely consulting with patients in an out-patients setting, particularly before and after interventional procedures. Some of these referrals will be coming from consultant teams, others from GPs. Such out-patient activity is encouraged by the RCR and GMC, to allow patients to consult with an expert before undertaking invasive treatments, and to ensure appropriate aftercare. Radiology clinics, like any other, are subject to a tariff payment, should be programmed into routine work, and be available for booking via e-referral.
Fellows should be aware, that the NHS e-referral Roadmap states an expectation that there will be availability of online patient booking and that for 2017/2018 there is a CQUIN payment available to incentivize Providers to publish all services and appointment slots on the NHS e-Referral service. In addition, from October 2018, appointments not available to e-referral will no longer attract a payment tariff.
Therefore, we would encourage all radiologists to consult with patients undergoing elective interventions in out-patients, have these available on the Trust Directory of Services, attract the appropriate tariff income for your department, and ensure availability for e-Referral.
