MINUTES OF ACC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Held at:

Central Hall, University Of York

On:

Tuesday 28th September 1999 at 17.15

1

APOLOGIES

Received directly by the Secretary from Susan Blunt, Liz Boyd and Jonathan Waters

2

MINUTES OF THE AGM HELD ON 29TH SEPTEMBER 1998

3.(xi)

These were then agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

3

CHAIRMAN'S REPORT

(i)

Death of Dr Charles Ford

The Chairman began her report by announcing, with great sadness, the death of Dr Charles Ford. Dr Ford had been the first President of the ACC and a strong supporter of cytogenetics. The members observed a few moments silence in his memory.

(ii)

Election Results

As several members of Council were due to stand down from office in 2000 it had been agreed to increase the number of Ordinary Members of Council by two in order to provide an overlap. It has also been recognised that owing to increased pressures at work attendance at Council meetings was often noticeably reduced. Adding two members would thus help ensure adequate representation.

The Chairman expressed the Association's thanks to the retiring Treasurer, Mike Creasy: he was one of only two Treasurers so far in the history of the Association. Thanks were also extended to Stuart Imrie who had represented the views of the membership as an Ordinary Member over the last three years. The newly elected members are Teresa Davies, Barbara Gibbons and David Stevenson.

(iii)

ACC Spring Meetings

The Spring Meeting this year in Newcastle had again been a success and the subsequent year's meetings were planned as follows:-

2000, 17^th - 18^th April, Bath
2001, Nottingham
2002, ?
2003, Glasgow

Further offers for hosting the Spring Meeting are welcome, especially for 2002. Council has considered using a single venue for this meeting and would appreciate the views of the membership.

(iv)

Scientific Committee

a)

CVS collaborative data report has been published in Prenatal Diagnosis.

b)

X-Autosome data were presented at the Spring Meeting and will be written up for publication.

c)

The Chairman welcomed Claire Chapman who has been appointed as the new CAD manager

Safety Issues

Following correspondence between members of the Profession, the ACC Council and the Royal College of Pathologists, relating to the handling of high-risk samples, the College has convened a Working Party to consider various aspects surrounding this issue. The ACC safety advisor, Selwyn Roberts, and Stuart Imrie have been invited to attend on behalf of the ACC.

(vi)

BSHG

Lorraine Gaunt is the BSHG's ACC representative on a new national committee: the Joint Medical Genetics Committee, which also has representation from the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Pathologists and the BSHG, together with members from the Department of Health, the Genetic Interest Group (GIG) and other bodies.

(vii)

Registration

The petition on behalf of Clinical Scientists was accepted by the Privy Council and approved by both Houses of Parliament in July. A board within CPSM is now being established for Clinical Scientists.

(viii)

Royal College of Pathologists SAC for Genetics

a)

Tony Parkin is the new ACC representative to the Royal College of Pathologists SAC for Genetics.

b)

A training logbook, entitled 'Training Record of Higher Specialist Training for Grade B Clinical Cytogeneticists' has been produced and will be given final consideration at the next Royal College of Pathologists SAC meeting prior to distribution. The Chairman thanked Ian Cross and Caroline Browne for producing the document

(ix)

Education and Training Committee (ETC)

a)

The Training Accreditation Board (TAB) had now been disbanded and replaced with the new Education and Training Committee (ETC). Lorraine Gaunt is the chairman of the Steering Group.

b)

The JLC and ACC have produced a career information leaflet (available on the ACC Website) which will be printed and circulated to Universities and distributed to would be cytogeneticists, to publicise the Profession. The Chairman congratulated the JLC for an excellent brochure.

c)

The final report on Project EVETSIN has been received and it contains favourable comments on the Grade A Training Scheme in Cytogenetics, especially mentioned is the Training for Trainers course and the assessment process.

d)

Workshop session is being organised for 4th Nov. to consider the training needs for the MRCPath examinations.

e)

The ETC has recommended to Council that the project module be reintroduced as a compulsory component of A grade training for those trainees who do not have evidence of acceptable research activities. Council agreed that this was entirely appropriate and the project module will become mandatory from the autumn 2000 intake of trainees.

f)

Congratulations were extended to Nigel Smith who is the first person to graduate with the MSc in Clinical Cytogenetics from Oxford Brookes University.

g)

The Training Sub-Committee (of the ETC) is considering training schemes and qualifications for cytogenetic assistants (initially those employed on the MTO2 grade).

(x)

NEQAS

Application for CPA(EQA) accreditation with the UKNEQAS in Clinical Cytogenetics has been submitted and is under consideration by the NEQAS Committee.

(xi)

Professional Standards Committee

This committee is devising guidelines for good practice in Clinical Cytogenetics, considering both technical and managerial aspects of the Profession.

(xii)

Heads of Departments' Meeting

A meeting was held for Heads of Departments of NHS Cytogenetics laboratories at which various issues were discussed. A report appears in the BSHG Newsletter (No12 June 1999).

(xiii)

Membership of the ACC

John Barber had written to Council proposing that staff employed in the MTO Grade should be admitted to full membership of the ACC (currently they are accepted as Associate Members). As this would represent a major change in the constitution of the ACC the Council agreed that a Working Party should be established to consider the implications of such a change. The membership of this Working Party would include the three Trustees.

(xiv)

Statements and Responses

a)

The ACC had issued a statement regarding Rapid Prenatal Diagnosis and FISH, which had been circulated to all heads of NHS laboratories

b)

Council had received a consultative document from the NHSE on Future Staffing Requirements. Tony Parkin drafted a response on behalf of the ACC which received a very positive response from the CSO, Dr Peter Greenaway. Copies were circulated to heads of departments.

c)

The ACC endorsed a joint response from the Institute of Biology and affiliated societies to the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee consultation on 'Science and Society'

d)

The ACC (along with other bodies) had received a copy of the Royal College of Pathologists 'Think Tank' report entitled 'Future Self-Regulation and Representation of Professional Staff in Pathology: A New Faculty for the College?'. Council considered this document and responded expressing reservations about the position of Clinical Scientists if this route was followed. It is now understood that this has been abandoned and the concept is being reconsidered.

e)

The ACC has accepted an invitation to become a corporate member of the UK Forum for Genetics and Insurance.

(xv)

ACC Website

Since its inception the address of the ACC website has changed to:- www.cytogenetics.org.uk

(xvi)

Thanks

a)

The chairman conveyed a vote of thanks to Dr Mike Creasy not only for his work as Treasurer of the ACC but also for his role in reporting back to Council from Whitley Council over the last 18 years.

b)

Vote of thanks was also made to Dr David Townsley-Hughes on his retirement. David was a founder member of the ACC and a Trustee for many years. He was thanked for his erudite contributions to Council over the years and latterly for being a very active ACC representative on the IOB. On behalf of the Profession he was wished a very long and enjoyable retirement.

c)

The Chairman then thanked our retiring President, Dr Mike Ridler. Mike had proved to be an active President on behalf of the ACC and had actually presided at a Council meeting! He was again warmly thanked for his contribution to the ACC throughout many years.

4

RESOLUTIONS

4.1 

Proposal for President - Mr Les Butler

Proposed by Alan McDermott
Seconded by Maggie Fitchett
This proposal was passed.

4.2

Proposal for Emeritus Fellow - Dr David Townsley-Hughes

Proposed by Alan McDermott
Seconded by Lorraine Gaunt
This proposal was passed.

4.3

Nomination for Trustee - Dr Mike Creasy

Proposed by David Townsley-Hughes
Seconded by Maggie Fitchett
This proposal was passed

4.4

Proposed amendments to the rules of the Association

Proposed by Mike Creasy
Seconded by Lorraine Gaunt

After some discussion Mike Creasy clarified the resolutions as set out in the agenda. These were 'upper limits' which were being set in order to accommodate any increases in subscriptions up to the proposed limit of £60.

The rule changes as detailed in 4.4 of the agenda were then passed by a majority vote.

5

JLC REPORT

Gavin reminded the Junior members that the JLC exists as a forum for them to express their views which can then be taken to Council. He cited the request to have a second, more northerly location for sitting the Diploma examination, as an area where the JLC had been able to put a request to Council which had then been subsequently actioned. There would also now be a sitting of the written component of the Diploma examination in Newcastle.

6

TREASURER'S REPORT

The adoption of the accounts was proposed by Alan McDermott and seconded by John Wolstenholme, and the re-appointment of the auditors, Wilkins Kennedy was proposed by Tony Potter and seconded by Norman Pratt.

7

CORRESPONDENCE

None

8

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES OF THE AGM HELD ON 29^TH SEPTEMBER 1998

None

9

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

a)

John Wolstenholme stated that he and John Barber would welcome feedback from the BSHG meeting regarding the cytogenetic scientific content in order that they could make changes (if necessary) to future programmes.

b)

The Chairman also asked for opinions as to the best timing of the ACC AGM within the BSHG Conference, there was however no great feeling to alter its timing

10

DATE OF NEXT AGM

12th September 2000

Meeting closed at 18.20