BMUS News - Winter 2021

My View From The Naughty Corner

A Changing Landscape
The change of the BMUS President, at the ASM in December 2020, brings a new geographical influence to these regular reports. We move from the hills and rugged coast line of South Wales to the rolling Wolds and big skies of the East Riding of Yorkshire. “Where t‘eck’s that?” I hear you ask in true Yorkshire grit. It’s Yorkshire’s naughty corner of course! We’re not there because we are disruptive and cheeky (well possibly, more anon). No, we are geographically isolated which places us in the corner of Yorkshire where farmland meets the sea. If you have never been to East Yorkshire, you won’t know that it is probably the best kept secret in England. 

https://www.eastyorkshhire.co.uk/  East Yorkshire. The secret’s out!

“The coastal cliffs are alive with seabirds and the long sandy beaches empty. But most of all, the landscape is tear-jerkingly lovely” – I quote from the tourism pages of course but it’s true. David Hockney, famed for his landscape paintings and “Hockney Blue”, was attracted by the space and light of East Yorkshire, where, he has said, one experiences “the sorts of wide vistas you get all the time in the American West.” The East Riding of Yorkshire is a no-nonsense sort of place. Its largest city, Hull - more correctly known as Kingston upon Hull - is where the county's beating heart lies. It is a solid city that just gets on with the business in hand. Hull is also cited as possibly being the spot where the English Civil War first kicked off. In 1642, King Charles I was denied entry into Hull, which is often seen as the trigger for the start of the war. With this heritage behind me, you may get a sense of what is to come in my tenure as BMUS President. You can take the girl out of Hull but you can’t take Hull out of the girl; you’ve been warned!

Past Presidents
Like me, though, I’m sure you will miss the view from Rhodri’s bike; the grunt and grind of his trips around the “Land of My Fathers”. As he heads off into the Welsh sunset I would like to formally thank our most recent past President, Prof. Rhodri Evans for the commitment and hard work he has given to BMUS over the past ten years and more. I look forward to continuing to work with him, as I know he will always be a great support to me and the BMUS family, but I also wish him well as he enjoys some well-deserved free time – if he has ever heard of such a thing.

Although the change of BMUS officers is a time to look forward, it is also opportune to reflect on the changes experienced by the society over the last 52 years. A recent BMUS Facebook post led me to look at the list of past Presidents; a list of distinguished colleagues who have all led BMUS; some through times of rapidly changing technological developments, some through times of growth and some through financially challenging times. Throughout, Presidents have influenced and developed BMUS dependent upon their own background and specialism, be that of clinician, physicist or sonographer. The strength of BMUS is our multidisciplinary membership; the range of expertise and experience that our members bring which has been borne out by our past Presidents. It is notable that the mainstay of BMUS in the early days was the physicist community, becoming shared with clinical colleagues who had a passion for ultrasound. More notable, perhaps though, is the sparseness of sonographers on the past President roll of honour. I am the third sonographer President of the society and I am immensely proud to follow in the footsteps of Jane Bates and Julie Walton. The outpouring of good wishes I received from the ultrasound community on becoming President was humbling and a great surprise. I am filled with both a sense of excitement to know I have such support but also a degree of trepidation. I will, however, endeavour to face the challenges ahead with courage and commitment.

The strength of BMUS
As I have already mentioned, it is my firm belief that the strength of BMUS lays in our multidisciplinary membership and, therefore, it should matter little the professional origin of the President. I only highlight the sparsity of sonographers in the President roll call to highlight the changes that the society has seen since its inception and the, now, modern face of the ultrasound profession at large. It is true that the majority of BMUS members are sonographers but this has not, nor will it, confer that the activities of the society are purely focussed on the largest majority. Yes, there are pressing issues being discussed nationally related to the sonography workforce, in terms of career progression and regulation, that I believe require BMUS’ input and representation. Whilst this, for some members, may feel at odds with the original BMUS objectives, I believe we must have a voice at a national level to ensure the standards of sonographer practice and education are optimised; to ensure we provide advice on high standards of professional practice with the ultimate aim of achieving our objectives and safeguarding our patients, now and in the future.

Goals and aspirations
It is my desire to welcome all users of ultrasound into the BMUS family and I am encouraged by the blossoming of the PoCUS Clinical Interest Group. We share a common aim; high standards, accountability and shared learning. It could be argued that by BMUS contributing to the national debate regarding the profession of sonographer we alienate our non-sonographer colleagues but I disagree. Working with our professional body collaborators of CASE, RCR and SCoR, to develop a clear, unambiguous career framework for sonographers, with associated codes of professional practice and guidance for clinical ultrasound delivery, sets the bar for all ultrasound users to achieve. This process, I believe, will aid BMUS to deliver its objectives of:

• the advancement of the science and technology of ultrasonics as applied to medicine,

• the maintenance of the highest standards in these fields,

• the advancement of education and research in these areas, and dissemination of the results,

• the provision of advice and information regarding ultrasound to the public at large.

The achievement of these objectives will ensure all professions within our multidisciplinary family benefit.

So, to the business in hand; let’s crack on. This Hull girl is really looking forward to leading BMUS over the next two years. I aim to strengthen our collaborations with our peer professional bodies in the UK and work with EFSUMB to ensure parity of practice wherever possible. My ultimate goals, however, are to ensure we set the bar for the standards of practice for all ultrasound users, and that BMUS continues to be at the heart and centre of the advancement of ultrasound in medicine. My greatest hope is that all of you, from whichever profession of origin, join me on this journey as we head into a brighter 2021 and beyond.

Mrs Pam Parker
BMUS President

BMUS Annual General Meeting 2020 

This year the  Annual General Meeting was held virtually on Tuesday 15th December and was attended by 47 members. Both the Honorary Secretary's report, delivered by Prof Adrian Lim, and the Honorary Treasurer's report, delivered by Dr Peter Cantin, were presented online. Should you not have had an opportunity to join us for the evening, both these presentations are available online here, please note you will need to be logged in as a member in the top right hand section of the homepage to view these presentations.

A warm welcome to newly elected Council Members, Dr Jeannette Kraft and Dr Nigel Grunshaw, to our co-opted members, Dr Andrew Breeze, Mrs Khalida Jan, Mr Stephen Moore and to Dr Prashant Verma, the Chair of the Physics & Safety group, who all join us on BMUS Council for 2021. A full list of BMUS Council members can be found here.

A massive thank-you must go to Prof Rhodri Evans for chairing the AGM, to all who attended and helped complete the necessary formalties of the year and ensured that the very unusual (and difficult) year ended with great style.

Once the formal proceedings were over, some fun was had by all, as these pictures can testify - we were even joined by some members' furry and feathered friends!

BMUS Re-Imagined

If you haven't yet had the opportunity to watch the presentations from 'BMUS Re-Imagined' these have been added to the Members' Webinar Library on the website, this resource is restricted to BMUS members and in addition to the 'BMUS RE-Imagined' lectures there are now 14 webinar presentations available, with more being added every fortnight.

2020 Awards and Prizes

Ultrasound 2021

Scientific Chair 2021
We are delighted to announce that Terry Humphrey will be chair of the 2021 Scientific Organising Committee.

Terry is a consultant sonographer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust who has a background comprising clinical paediatric ultrasound in Leeds Children’s Hospital and teaching radiology trainees in the Leeds and West Yorkshire radiology academy. She led the contrast ultrasound service within the trust and has co-led its successful introduction into paediatrics. Her major clinical interest is in hepatobiliary ultrasound and she has developed specialist techniques for the ultrasound assessment of jaundiced infants.

Terry leads the Trust’s ultrasound educational meeting, is an active member of the BMUS science and education committee, and also organises BMUS’s annual paediatric ultrasound study day.

Venue
The meeting will be held at Cardiff City Hall, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3ND on Tuesday 7th - Thursday 9th December 2021.

Programme
This year’s programme will feature the usual education themes such as General Medical Ultrasound, Gynaecology, Obstetrics and Physics. The student focussed day, a number of veterinary sessions and the ThUNNDAR day will also return again in 2021.  In addition, we are pleased to be including sessions focusing on Point of Care Ultrasound for the first time this year.

Look out for the call for papers in May in the Ultrasound journal, RAD magazine and on the website for further programme details. 

Mrs Terry Humphrey
2021 SOC Chair