ACC Council Meeting
Canterbury Hall, Cartwright Gardens, London
Tuesday 7th March 2006
Tony Parkin Chairman
Teresa Davies Secretary
John Wolstenholme (JWo) Treasurer
Rob Morgan Assistant Secretary
Gordon Lowther Lorraine Gaunt Val Davison
Simon McCullough Chris Wragg Peter Howard
Hazel Harvey-Smith Jonathan Waters (JWa) Michelle Fenlon
John Crolla Kim Smith
1
Apologies were received from Maj Hulten, Rod Howell, Ros Hastings, Amanda Dixon McIver, Edna Maltby and Fiona Harding
2
Minutes of the Meeting held on Tuesday 5th December
3.2 Para 2 Change ‘No changes planed…’ to ‘No changes planned…’
3.4 Change ‘TP was asked if there it…’ to ‘TP was asked if it…’
3.6 Change ‘TP, VD & SI…’ to TP, VD & Stuart Imrie…’
3.9 Change illicit to elicit
5.4 Add Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge to brackets eg (Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge WDD).
5.6 Add trainees so it reads ‘Concern that WDD trainees…’
6 Change ‘Framework for education needs …’ to ‘Framework for education does not need …’
6 Change ‘…run for 2 years.’ to run for a minimum of 2 years.’
6 Delete sentence beginning ‘ACS assessors may be… and insert ‘ ACS may be asked to provide advice on the assessment process.’
7.6 Change ‘ To ask HOD validity of data..’ to ‘To ask HOD about utility of data…’
7.8 Delete R
8.1 Add ‘…to join.’ to end of sentence
8.2 Change ‘Sub group looking…’ to ‘Sub group of UKGTN is looking…’
10.8 Change Vice Chair to Vice President
11 Remove last sentence after hyphen.
16 Remove full stop on line below.
18 Change AMD to ADM
3
3.1
To note with sadness the passing of Professor Paul
Polani, who was a past president of the ACC. JC is to write to the family
and also an article for the Newsletter. Action JC
3.2
3.2.1
The HPC has appointed a stakeholder manager, Sarah Dawson, to raise the profile of the HPC. She will work with the professional bodies, and will attend their meetings and write articles for their publications.
3.2.2
HPC has been reviewing the standards of proficiency. ACS has submitted comments, the changes will be minor but will enhance the role of Clinical Scientists.
3.2.3
The HPC continues to work towards CPD beginning from July 2006, with the first audits in July 2008. Clinical Scientists will not be involved in the first audit, but may be audited in 2009, and so should start collecting evidence from 2007.
The ACS is to produce a dummy evidence portfolio, with the help of the ACB and the Immunologists. The focus is to be on what is learned, rather than what is done. At the moment it is uncertain what the evidence will look like.
HHS asked how it will relate to KSF, but TP thought they would have different foci and that the core KSF may not be the most important..
JWa reported that this had been raised at HPC roadshows and that there may be some conflict between HPC and RCPath CPD schemes. TD said that the HPC minutes have a draft of what they will be looking for.
3.2.4
The ACS is to be audited in 2006 by the HPC.
3.3
Reported later in the meeting
3.4
No meeting since last council.
We have received the minutes of the AGM and they refer to agreement for future funding of £1/active member. There was discussion about contributing to FHCS and council agreed that there should be no open-ended commitment. The decision will be reviewed annually in the light of FHCS activity.
3.5
TD and JWo have arranged this in Newcastle. Among those attending will be Louise Newport from the DH Genetics Unit, Peter Dixon Deputy Head of Northern Commissioning and Andrew Butcher, and Andrew Butcher from Skills for Health. AB is scoping what is needed for development and is particularly interested in technologists.
3.6
With input from HoDs the scope of practice has been agreed. Marcus Allen from the AGTC is mapping the information onto the HPC standards of proficiency, and the technologists and Clinical Scientists formats should be the same.
3.7
The consensus KSFs were sent out in early March to enable consistency between laboratories. The deadline for completing outline has been revised until the end of March.
3.8
Their future is to be reviewed as part of the 5-year review. TP has been invited to take part in the review, but has had to sign a confidentiality clause. The review will start in May and end in September.
4
The trustees report was distributed prior to the meeting, and was presented by JC. A hub and spoke model was generally accepted by council, with committees feeding into the executive. There was much discussion about the composition of council and the balance between elected and appointed members. It was agreed that only elected members of council would have voting rights. There was also discussion about the membership for various constituent groups (eg JLC, HST, technicians etc).
There was some discussion about whether the ACC should remain a Friendly Society.
Council thought that the TU and HST representatives were not needed (the HST rep could be on ETC), but that inviting a CMGS observer was a good idea. The consensus was that a second draft was required and that this should be prepared by a working group, reporting back at the June meeting. The working group is
Chris Wragg
Peter Howard
Jonathan Waters
Kim Smith
John Wolstenholme
John Crolla
They will also draw up proposals for the structure of committees.
Proposals should be ready for the 2007 AGM.
5
5.1
KS reported that Sarah King has joined ETC as a technologists representative. All other members of the ETC have now been in place for more than 3 years, and there is a need for new membership and a new chair. KS asked how new members should be recruited. LG asked about the current structure. This is :-
Chair
Secretary
Study Day Co-ordinator (Paul Campbell)
National Co-ordinator of Trainees (Gavin Cuthbert)
Assessors Representative (Heather Ward)
Technical Training (Val Davison)
Workforce Planning (David Delmege)
WDD representative (from Norfolk Suffolk & Cambridgeshire)
Chair ACC
KS would like to see the membership increase to include more constituent groups. There was some discussion about whether an HST representative was required in addition to an ordinary member. LG thought it was important they were represented as they were training to be consultants. JC also pointed out that HST representatives played a big role in the RCPath SAC.
5.2
There is some concern about the funding of trainees this year. The DoH and training commissioning leads are to examine training needs, and decide if a trainee allocation is required. They will also determine whether there are jobs available for trainees to move in to. There were 90 White Paper trainee posts, about 50 of which have been allocated.
5.3
The DoH training leads, ETC, TAB and national and regional trainers are to meet with Andrew Butcher in April. The DoH wants feedback on the trainer posts, and is hoping to put a structure in place for input into the MSc syllabus.
5.4
This consultation document has been released by HPC and will detail what is required to get training programmes approved. The ETC is meeting with the DoH and will respond after this. Responses are required by 28/4/06.
This will allow future direction and personnel needs to be planned. TP asked if a document could be brought to council in June. KS agreed.
White paper funding will not be picked up. JWo pointed out that Gavin Cuthbert will require an 18-month extension and that this should be planned for now.
5.5
The last course had been hard to fill and some pre-registration individuals attended.. The course is pitched at those who will deliver training.
5.6
TP has signed off 13 PCCCs.
5.7
An assistant has been appointed for GC.
6.0
6.1
There has been one meeting of the VRC. There have been problems forming the limited company but this is now close to being finalised and the register should launch on the 3 April.
The standards for proficiency are being worked on.
Initial scrutinising of applications will be done ay VRC council meetings to ensure scrutinizers are all working the same way. The chair of AGTC is putting some training material together. Applications for registration will be supported by reference from Heads of Departments.
The website is to be set up. It will contain links to the professional bodies.
The application fee will initially be £45.
7.0
7.1
7.2
LG enquired about the status of the European Guidelines published in the ECA Newsletter.
JWo had attended the ECA board meeting, and stated that the guidelines were intended for those countries who have not published their own. He also pointed out that ECA was not contiguous with the EU. GL thought it would be helpful if this was explained. TD asked that a statement be published that we would not be bound by the guidelines. LG was concerned about the legal position.
Action TP to write to newsletter.
8
8.1
Cytogenetics laboratories are to be invited to join UKGTN; the clinical laboratories group will contact them.
8.2
The DoH would like standards for cytogenetics and biochemistry, and how they would be monitored. TP is to be formerly approached to comment on what the standards should be.
8.3
Feedback on Down syndrome testing is still awaited. The final recommendation is expected at the end of March.
JC reported that screening algorithms that reduce the false positive rate to 2-3% will have huge implications for cytogenetics laboratories due to the reduction in invasive testing.
9.0
9.1
9.2
JWA thanked all those who will be presenting, and all those who will be attending the Spring Meeting.
10
10.1
No meetings
10.2
Attended by JC, TD and TP.
The gallery proofs for the Consent and Confidentiality
Guidelines are with Peter Farndon. Every BSHG member will receive a copy,
and the document will also be available online. The Human Tissue Authority
Guidelines
have not yet been published and enforcement will be delayed.
10.3
JWo attended. The venues for the next 3 conferences will be:
2006 York
2007 Exeter
2008 Exeter
A BSHG press officer has been appointed.
Pat Jacobs will present the Carter Lecture.
10.4
GKP funding is ending. The IDEAS study group will be run only once more in its present form.
11
The JLC will be leading a session at the Spring Conference at which TD will be speaking.
The JLC has continued to liaise with the junior members.
12
12.1
The accounts for the last year were circulated. They showed an excess of about £40,000, of which about £24,000 is due to extra trainee funding.
Kim Smith pointed out that there is still Internal Assessors training to be provided, and that there may be 2 years of training to provide with out any income.
The association has assets of about £110,000.
12.2
JWo pointed out there was again a large surplus from the Spring Meeting, and that budgeting could be tighter.
12.3
Stuart Scott has been awarded £250 to attend the ESHG meeting in Amsterdam.
12.4
The ACC/CMGS Molecular Cytogenetics study day is to run its accounts through the ACC. The CMGS is to run the accounts for the MTO study days. Both groups will share any profit or loss. It is hoped this will be the model for any other joint ventures.
12.5
TP and JC raised the possibility of a bursary for a studentship. JWo thought that it would be best if this were for an ACC member.
Action JC to investigate.
13
There was no correspondence, not dealt with elsewhere.
14
There were 9 applications, all from Clinical Scientists – all accepted
15
The following positions are due for election this year:
4 Ordinary members (KS, PH and LG TP)
3 JLC members
1 MTO
TP is standing down as chair and thought it would be best if a new chair could be identified quickly as they could work in parallel over the summer.
16
16.1
3.9 NEQAS
There was discussion about the number of overseas laboratories enrolled with NEQAS for external quality assessment. TP reported that their involvement is not subsidised by UK laboratories and that they do not affect the timeliness of UK laboratories reports. Other issues with NEQAS were also discussed. It was felt that reports could be presented more professionally.
16.2
TD reported that NEQAS would expect ISCN 2005 to be used from 1 April 2006. PH reported that there were some typographical errors.
16.3
The release of this has been delayed. The CMGS audit is useful as it allows the benchmarking of laboratories.
16.4
VD raised this issue, and it is to be discussed at the next meeting.
Action TD to add to next agenda.
17
None raised.
18
Tuesday 6 June at Hughes Parry Hall, London