Sunny Bournemouth was the setting for the British Geriatrics Society (BGS) spring meeting. Home to the second largest natural harbour in the world after Sydney, Australia, Bournemouth had both the beach and the city centre within walking distance of the conference venue. The meeting took place at the Bournemouth International Centre, which is one of the largest venues on the south coast, and has hosted an array of events from rock gigs to political party conferences.

The first of three days was devoted to a symposium on dementia, held by the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics European Region Clinical Section. From day two there was a full programme of scientific presentations and workshops, including a series from two popular special interest groups in cardiology and medical ethics, clinical updates on cardiology, gastroenterology, orthogeriatrics and the older surgical patient, two plenary symposiums to ‘meet the professors’ (to promote more research in clinical settings) and on managing diabetes in the elderly patient, and two keynote lectures. The first keynote lecture was by Professor Allan McLean, from Notre Dame University, Australia, who incorporated population statistics, economics, and microbiology in his lecture on the ageing process. The second keynote was by Dr Martin Marshall, Director of Clinical Quality at The Health Foundation, who stood in for Baroness Young of Old Scone, who spoke about the role of regulation to maintain quality in the National Health Service. Dr Marshall’s lecture was particularly topical and the discussion enjoyed a clinician in the audience from Staffordshire hospital that was recently in the national media.

It was my first attendance at a BGS meeting. Whilst being a gerontologist with a background in psychology, and therefore somewhat of an anomaly amongst the geriatricians, the people were welcoming and the discussions engaging. Indeed, I had a very good discussion with a psychiatric nurse on the use of restraints before we attended the debate session on said topic.

I have a number of observations that impressed me about the content and organisation of the scientific presentations. First, I was impressed by the use of an array of research methods and cross-disciplinary work. Data was not constrained to medical statistics, but a clinician presented qualitative data that complemented an RCT, and another discussed the psychological predictors of recovery from a fall. Second, a number of sessions were framed as debates, asking e.g. whether complementary medicine should be used more widely in the NHS. A speaker introduced the topic, and then two others had a turn to argue for or against the motion, before time for an engaging discussion. Third, the BGS enjoys 15 special interest groups and so sessions were not only helpfully themed, but these interest groups aptly organised sessions such as the debates.

The meeting attracted several hundred delegates including clinicians from abroad as far as Singapore. Although, there did not seem as much diversity in discipline amongst delegates as enjoyed at BSG meetings, and because the BGS holds two conferences per annum (in the Spring and Autumn), it is a shame that some delegates only attend one or the other and so miss a networking opportunity each year.

In sum, I’d encourage BSG members to network with our colleagues at the BGS, particularly as a number of clinicians are already well versed with qualitative methods and the influence of psychosocial factors in medical care. I would encourage BSG members to consider attending a BGS biannual meeting and/or a special interest group/regional meeting, and details of such events can be found at their website www.bgs.org.uk.

Correspondence