Friday, 25 November 2011
It was a real pleasure to be part of the
joint BPPA-BAPA
Annual Conference in Solihull at the weekend, on the State of
the Art of Psychopharmacology. The conference combined high
scientific content with clinical utility, set in a deep
understanding of impact of cultural context
I spent Monday spent with the Divisional
and Faculty leads going through ACCEA submissions. It was difficult
tthis year in view of the uncertainty surrounding the future
of the whole process. But what it told me, loudly and clearly, is
that we have a wealth of clinicians who are delivering over and
above their contractual obligations
On Tuesday I flew to Berlin for the
DGPPN
Congress, which was themed under the motto “Personalized
psychiatry and psychotherapy". I was able to have very
constructive meeting with Presidents from many of the other
European psychiatric associations, and work is progressing as to
how we can act and speak as one voice to influence policy workers
across the Union. Practical and positive outcomes are possible. For
example, over 20 Presidents recently wrote to the Netherlands
government, who had issued plans which would seriously disadvantage
their citizens with mental illness. The President of the
Netherlands Psychiatric Association, Prof. Dr. Rutger Jan van der
Gaag, has - as a result of these letters - now been asked to help
the government rethink their proposals. I hope that many of
the European psychiatric association presidents will come to our
next International Congress in Liverpool
(10-13 July 2012), so we can take forward our workplan.
While in Berlin, the only newspaper in
English that I saw was the Wall Street Journal.
Intersetingly, among the doom and gloom of world finances, I found
the "journal page" which was advising (I presume) bankers and
investors how to best explain psychosexual development to their
pre-school offspring .
Waiting for the plan home, I read a new
draft report from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges on
consultant-led and delivered services. I would welcome your views
on this topic as it is I think critical to our future as
psychiatrists.
Sue
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