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Come and join us in Glasgow 25th/26th April 2013

Winter 2012/13

The BSCCP Secretary’s Update

may not yet be familiar with the level of risk of a positive HPV test. The questions and expectations of these women may also be quite different from our usual practice. BSCCP, and in particular the members of the IT committee have been working hard not only on the new BSCCP Website due to be released this year but also updating information for women and for professionals to reflect theses changes. As well as reviewing the published evidence, if you find you have already gained practical experience that you would like to share, please get in touch directly or through the Bulletin board.

We are reviewing the emerging evidence on the impact of HPV immunisation on lower genital tract disease. This is also on the website. There has been very high uptake of the vaccine in the school based programme across the UK reaching 90% and early evidence from surveillance indicates a reduction in HPV16/18 infections in these young women. It is too early to see a reduction in cases of CIN but we can expect to have more UK data available on HPV prevalence over the next 2 years prior to the vaccinated cohort entering the cervical screening programme in 2015 in England. I hope to find out more on the effect of HPV testing in the abstracts, posters and presentations at this year’s Annual Scientific Meeting in Glasgow.

Whilst I often think that our practice of colposcopy is similar across the UK, the latest document on the Cervical Screening Programme England 2011-12 from the NHS CSP indicates how different colposcopy practice is. The data shows wide variations in workload, reporting profiles, proportion of new referrals with clinical signs and symptoms and management at first visit. It is not surprising that the effect of HPV testing has produced varying impacts across different centres. Although many of you have noticed an increase in colposcopy referrals, others have reported a reduction in new referrals.

We were delighted at the interest in the BSCCP 40th Anniversary overseas Scholarship. This has been awarded to Jane Panikkar to support the work of PHASE in cervical cancer prevention in Nepal. Each year we award overseas fellowships and details can be found on our website.

A Letter from the President

Dear Member

Hope everybody had a good Christmas and New Year. It is not too far off to the annual BSCCP meeting. This year it is in Glasgow, and as usual we have an excellent programme covering key issues in cervical screening and colposcopy. We are all aware that recertification was due on 1st September last year so it is important to make sure we are all up to date. Having visited some colposcopy units across the UK recently, there is still some confusion about HPV triage and Test of Cure and I think it is important to attend our annual meeting to hear invited speakers in the field and have an opportunity to air our views. Hopefully, the new NHS colposcopy guidelines will have been published before the annual meeting and we can debate the impact of these recommendations on our practice.

Finally, just to remind everybody we really value the proffered papers and poster presentations at the annual meeting. Generally, we accept abstracts from a broad spectrum of colposcopy units, so if you are thinking of submitting a paper now is the time before the deadline.

Pierre Martin-Hirsch

Hon Secretary

Whether you are an experienced colposcopist with years of clinical practice behind you or a novice in training, our understanding of colposcopy examination and practice is based on women with abnormal cytology. We become accustomed to the reporting profiles of our referral cytology laboratory and our local protocols have often developed to reflect this.

With HPV Test of Cure and HPV triage, we are off on a different track and into some unknown territory. Women with normal cytology but a positive HPV test can be challenging. We may also see very early HPV lesions and

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I hope you will be able to make the journey to Glasgow this year for our Annual Scientific Meeting 25-26 April 2013. If you would like to be more involved with BSCCP whether updating material for the website, teaching at courses, examining at the OSCE or joining a committee, then please get in touch. I am always happy to discuss.

Best wishes for 2013.

Maggie Cruickshank

A Letter from the President (cont)

Recertification All colposcopists were invited to recertify in September 2012. The guidelines for this process are available on the website (http://www.bsccp.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=41) and there is still an opportunity to recertify for those who have yet to do so. For this round of recertification it is still possible to use the old-style 6 month audit form although members are encouraged to use the new 12 month audit. It is anticipated that future rounds of recertification after 2013 will be conducted as an automated process and colposcopists will be able to complete the recertification process on line.

The CTC has established a set of criteria for those colposcopists who wish to resume practice but have not recertified for 5 or more years. Details are available from the BSCCP office and will also be placed on the website. Quality Assurance of Trainers The trainer accreditation system has been running since the autumn. Approximately 250 applications have been received. We would like to encourage all colposcopists who have trainees in their units, and all lead colposcopists, to apply for this accreditation. The details are available on the website (http://www.bsccp.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=136). For those who cannot currently meet the requirements, the London Deanery is hosting access for BSCCP members to their online training in educational supervision. The CTC is very keen to encourage high quality training by appropriately experienced colposcopists. Therefore, trainer accreditation will not normally be granted to colposcopists within one year of their certification as a registered colposcopist. The recommendation is that all colposcopy trainers, whether seeking trainer accreditation or not, should have been in regular colposcopic practice for at least 12 months prior to taking on a trainee.

An Update from the Certification & Training Committee

Trainers Seminar Crowne Plaze, Glasgow 24th April 2013 It is planned to continue running the Trainers Seminar on the afternoon before the start of the BSCCP Annual Scientific Meeting which this year is in Glasgow. The seminar will run from 2-5pm on 24 April. This year the seminar will include a focus on the Trainer Accreditation Programme and will provide sessions on educational supervision. Registration for the Trainers Seminar is included in the online conference registration process, but make sure you ‘tick’ the box to register.

OSCE Booking The new arrangements for OSCE booking are now running. Candidates can no longer book a place on an OSCE until all their training documentation has been received and reviewed. Once this has been accepted, they will be sent an OSCE application form for the next available OSCE. It is anticipated that this system will lead to fairer access to opportunities to sit the OSCE and also ensure that the examinations run to full capacity.

CTC Membership The membership of the CTC is reviewed regularly and we are keen to recruit from the entire pool of BSCCP members. To this end, it had been agreed that future members of the CTC will be appointed for a three year term and that vacancies on the committee will be advertised in the Newsletter. This system of recruitment is now being established and we hope to begin this open recruitment process in Winter 2013

Member Feedback BSCCP members who have comments or concerns are welcome to contact the CTC Chair via the BSCCP office. I will do my best to reply promptly to comments and enquiries.

Nicholas Myerson

Chair of CTC

CTC Vacancy

There is currently a vacancy for a Colposcopy

trainee to join the CTC. If you are interested in

sitting on this committee as the Representative

for Trainees, for the duration of your Colposcopy

training, please contact

Debbie.Lewis@bwhct.nhs.uk

for a nomination form.

The committee meets twice per year in

Birmingham and is responsible for all training

and accreditation issues.

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Glasgow is preparing for the BSCCP annual scientific meeting in 2013 and looking forward to seeing you all there. The interesting and exciting programme can be seen on the website and we have a wide variety of distinguished speakers. The conference will be held on the waterfront in the convinent and comfortable Crowne Plaza Hotel. The social programme makes good use of Glasgow’s historical landmarks with the welcome ceremony held in the City Chambers, a central location next to numerous bars, restaurants and nightclubs. The conference dinner and ceilidh is at the beautiful Kelvingrove museum and is not to be missed, book your time off now and come to enjoy the meeting, the company and Glasgow.

Val Harper

Chair Local Organising Committee

An Update from the IT Committee

Annual Scientific Meeting Glasgow 25/26 April 2013

Kelvingrove Art Gallery

Abstract Submission Deadline

25th January 2013!

There is only a short time left to submit your abstract for the 2013 Annual Meeting which will be

held in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow.

Full instructions on how to submit can be found on the conference website:

www.BSCCPconference.co.uk

Abstracts are invited under the following themes:

Science/Epidemiology

Pathology

Training/Education

Audit/Quality Assurance

Treatment and Morbidity

Book your Hotel now!

limited accommodation available

The Crowne Plaza is very busy at the time of our conference and although we have a number of

rooms reserved for our delegates, they will only be available until 26th February and after that date accommodation cannot be guaranteed. To book your room please see the conference website for

instructions and cancellation policies.

There are other hotels within a few minutes walk, but for those who want to stay in the hotel where

the conference is taking place, we strongly

recommend that you book now.

EARLY BOOKING DISCOUNT

Don’t forget to register before 1st March to take advantage of the reduced registration rates and to make sure you get a place at the conference dinner

in the stunning surroundings of Kelvingrove Art

Gallery and Museum.

The IT subcommittee with the secretariat has been busy planning the delivery of a brand new website. This will be interactive and we hope will enable new features of an on-line BSCCP office. It is envisaged that lots of current membership tasks which we all know and love will be enabled as an on line activity. This will include registration for training, recertification, membership renewal and payment as well as returning eligibility for the OSCE through successful completion of training. It should enhance the experience the members as well as protecting our valued secretariat.

We look forward to unveiling this new look site at Glasgow but it will be early summer before it is delivered. It is amazing to think that our current website started life in 2004 – the same year that Facebook was unveiled for the first time to students in the US. Much has happened since so we have lots of catching up to do.

It is hoped that the keynote presentations from Glasgow will again be recorded and made available on our dedicated Vimeo channel. While currently it is necessary to visit the Vimeo site for this, this will integrate seamlessly in the future.

Finally we can always use help at the BSCCP – if you have an interest in all things IT particularly if you have an interest in social networking sites we on the IT subcommittee can always use new enthusiastic volunteers. Grainne Flannelly

Chair, IT Committee

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Currently EFC has 32 affiliated countries. The next triennial meeting will be held in Prague on 5-7th September 2013. Hopefully there will be approved pre-congress courses in English, Russian, German, Italian and Turkish.

Charles Redman, using the Delphi technique, is reassessing the EFC minimum standards for training. EFC is trying to identify some way in which some form of Certification of Completion of Training can be introduced.

Clearly EFC cannot do this. However, in the first instance, EFC will encourage each country to introduce and monitor agreed minimum standards of training with an EFC approved exit examination.

Joe Jordan

EFC Executive Board EFC Website: www.e-f-c.org

A date for your diaries …….

IFCPC 15th World Congress 26 - 30 May 2014

The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London

HPV & Genital Tract Disease,

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

Website: www.ifcpc2014.com

2013 subs are due!

If you have not done so already, please

forward a cheque for £60

(or €75) to the BSCCP

If you have a UK bank account and prefer to

pay by Direct Debit, please email

Elaine.Radford@bwhct.nhs.uk

for a mandate form

Have you recertified yet?

Please visit the Recertification page: http://www.bsccp.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=41

(you will need to login to the Members area)

Courses & Meetings 2013

Details online

Log on to the website (www.bsccp.org.uk)

and visit ‘Events Calendar’