After a week of high stakes political moves you will be pleased to know the leadership team of the BNMS has no similar problems and that council has not resigned on mass! We continue to be fully functioning and are representing you to our best ability.
 
A national review in radiopharmacy is going to take place and the DHSC are working with the BNMS and UKRG as major stakeholders which is good to see. The scope is currently being defined which I will make sure covers our major issues. Importantly we need to get our radiopharmacy provision right sized for both our future diagnostic work and the emerging theranostic services. As I’m sure you will know there are significant risks in radiopharmacy where we have suffered from under provision. In England there are about 5 Ga 68 generators, in France there are 60!
 
As the current covid wave is building our services are coming under covid pressures again. This wave is expected to peak around September. I would like to remind you of the BNMS covid guidance which is on our website and will be useful for this wave. Please read it if you have not already.
 
Following our theme of holding meetings throughout the UK the autumn meeting in Swansea at the National Waterfront Museum. It is open for registration and the outline programme looks great. I would encourage you to attend, you could even combine it with a visit to the beautiful Gower peninsular. It takes place on 11-12 November and will include clog dancing I am told – there are so many reasons to attend! It is currently open for abstract submission.
 
Finally, as schools break up and the summer holidays being I wish all a well-earned break and hope you get some quality relaxation to recharge your batteries as we have much to do in our community in the coming year in our fast-moving discipline.

Prof Richard Graham

BNMS President

As I return from the BNMS Spring meeting in Glasgow I know UK nuclear medicine is in good shape. The energy was palpable and level of engagement was very high. We had in excess of 500 delegates which really made the meeting feel busy and productive.

It was a honour to present the BNMS awards this year with the BNMS celebrating the great achievements of several of our members. The list of winner can be found on our website. It was great awards dinner in the Glasgow science museum and my voice even held out which was not a given as there was no PA system and I had spent 2 days talking constantly!

Phil Blower, one of our award winners, commented that there was more basic science at the meeting this year than in recent times and that this was a very positive step. This allows the clinicians and the scientists to work in partnership which has to be a good thing. Please keep the science coming to our meeting.

The buzz of the commercial exhibition was good to see  - the ratio of delegates to space was about right. Industry seemed pleased with how the conference worked for them. Thank you to industry for their support, the meeting could not happen without them.

Nick Steven's performance in the fun run is worth a notable mention given he was the oldest competitor and he won it! Nick is role model to us all! Well done Nick.

Glasgow proved to be an excellent venue and I am sure we will return. The benefit of face-to-face were obvious and the after party at Radisson Red would not have worked so well in virtual format!

There are too many people to thank individually but I would like to give honourable mentions to Vineet Prakash, Brent Drake, the SEC committee, Charlotte Weston and Caroline Oxley without whom the meeting could not have happened. This was one of the best BNMS meetings I have been to. I am representing you at SNMMI next month in Vancouver and will report back in next month's blog.

Prof Richard Graham

BNMS President

I’m am sure we are very worried about the war in Ukraine and the plight of the Ukrainian people. The European Society of Radiology is running a campaign to support Médecins Sans Frontières work there so please donate if you feel able https://www.myesr.org/article/3430 . Raw materials for radiopharmaceutical production come form both Ukraine and Russia which could be a problem in a few months if the situation does not improve. We are working with Industry on this already.

Jilly Croasdale  who is a senior radiopharmacist in Birmingham is our President elect. Jilly has been an excellent BNMS treasurer and I am sure she will be a brilliant President. I know the BNMS is in safe hands and I would like to give my congratulations to Jilly. I would also like to thank Charnie Kalirai, a senior physicist from Nottingham, who is taking over from Jilly as BNMS Treasurer. Charnie has been a significant contributor to the BNMS during has time on council and I am confident he will keep us in good financial shape. John Buscombe has stepped down as Past President but has kindly agreed to stay on as NICE representative for the BNMS. John has been a fantastic President for our organisation and really advanced the societies’ causes under his expert and energetic leadership. Thank you John so much for all you have done for the BNMS.

We are working hard in the area of PET-CT commissioning to define standards for future commissioning which I thank Gary Cook for leading on. I am leading a working group on the commission of new PET-CT tracers to derive a better process that allows our patients to benefit earlier from new tracers. We will then use this document to lobby the central NHS for a better and more streamlined process.

We continue to push for technologist professional registration, Jon Buscombe and Chirs Mayes have been attending meetings representing the BNMS on this recently. I have also been pressing had on the issue at the NHS National Imaging Workforce Board.

Tomorrow I fly to Glasgow for a preconference visit with the organising team of our spring meeting.  I am sure it will be a great meeting and if you have not registered I would urge you to do that now. Both the academic and social aspects of the program look amazing and it will be great to be together in person. See you in Glasgow.

Prof Richard Graham

BNMS President

Everyone is working flat out in nuclear medicine now. With up to 10% absences due to ill-health and covid-19 coupled with unprecedented demand for our services we are all feeling the pressure. The BNMS is working hard on your behalf to increase workforce recruitment and retention to help counteract these pressures. I know you feel dedication to your patients but hope that you do not exhaust yourselves in the process of caring for them. I think there is light at the end of the tunnel – the omicron wave appears to have peaked which will result in us getting back to a more normal situation soon. What I do know is our patients and referring clinicians are unreservedly grateful for the key diagnostic and therapeutic services you all contribute to. It is worth focusing on this when times are hard.
 
The nominations for president of the BNMS will close on 31 January 2022. If you are interested in leading nuclear medicine in the UK this is a great role from which to contribute nationally and internationally. Any prospective candidates are always welcome to talk to me regarding what the role entails.
 
Thank you for taking part in our workforce survey. The results of this will be published in nuclear medicine communications. The BNMS will use these data to help argue for improvements in staffing, services and equipment throughout the UK. Your time completing the survey was well spent and I thank you for that.
 
The professional standards committee continues to work tirelessly on you behalf and has recently approved an update to bone scintigraphy guidelines which will be published shortly. This is just one of the many guidelines that the BNMS publishes annually which define best practice and help you deliver and develop your services.
 
Lots of work is happening regarding the spring meeting in Glasgow. It promises to be a great event and I would encourage you to submit abstracts to increase your stakeholding in the event. I hope to see as many of you as possible there. This will be our first opportunity for a large face to face meeting for some time and is likely to be memorable for that alone. In these covid times one realises the privilege it is to meet up with colleagues and friends to discuss our exciting specialty - something I previously took for granted.

Prof Richard Graham

BNMS President

We are in good company have chosen Glasgow for our meeting. I think COP26 is a  good warm up act for the key meeting in Glasgow next year: BNMS Spring meeting! Joking aside Glasgow is a great venue and I am sure our meeting will be a great success so I urge you both to submit abstracts by 26 Jan 22 and to attend the meeting. Although in the virtual space you can learn plenty you do miss out on those informal conversations in the wings with colleagues and with industry, and the social aspects of the meeting too. We as community need to make sure we are doing everything we can from a climate change perspective in the practice of nuclear medicine. Time to start thinking about what we should do going forward.
 
Our next Autumn meeting will be in Swansea on 11/12 November 2022 which is being led by Neil Hartman. I know we can expect amazing Welsh hospitality, much dancing as well as great nuclear medicine.  I would like to thank Neil for putting his hand up. This continues are theme of meetings throughout the UK which can be no bad thing.
 
Despite the pandemic the BNMS finances are in good shape as result of careful management by Jilly Croasdale and Charlotte Weston.  Not all societies have been so fortunate and this is nothing we should have taken for granted. The BNMS is well positioned to deliver its mission as we emerge from the pandemic.  
 
We have been working with a group who are keen to establish a nuclear reactor in Wales to provide medical isotopes and ensure UK supply in our post Brexit era. I am sure you would all agree this would be great for UK nuclear medicine if it comes to fruition. We have written to the new Secretary of State for Health – Sajid Javid – highlighting the issue of nuclear medicine technologist professional registration and hope he will be more receptive than his predecessor. We are working with IPEM and SCOR on this campaign too.
 
I attended EANM virtually which was inspiring by virtue of what is going on in European Nuclear Medicine. The biggest topic of the conference was theranostics and potential of our speciality to deliver for patients in this space; selecting the patients who will benefit most from novel therapies and monitoring their response to treatment. There are many potential applications and a lot of excitement around this. There was a call to arms to increase the multidisciplinary therapy workforce and infrastructure  in order to make this a reality.
 
Finally, thank you all for the vital work you continue to do for our patients  in these challenging times. The practice of nuclear medicine has never been more important in patient care.

Prof Richard Graham

BNMS President