I had a chuckle when I saw a recent tweet misspelling ‘Haematology’ as ‘Harm-atology’! It reminded me that a key highlight of the 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) was our Trainee-led Crucible session on ‘How do Haematologists do most harm to patients?’ Dr Sonia Wolf won the inaugural Prize with her 'Young, Black and Stigmatised’ presentation highlighting the perils of acute sickle cell crises. I am keen that BSH follows through in making a difference on this issue.
Sonia now has the honour of organising the next Crucible session at our 2019 ASM in Glasgow. The tantalising title for the £1000 Prize is ‘How can haematology save the world?’. It promises to be a highlight again, along with the many other great ideas and a line-up of excellent key opinion leaders that improves year-on-year. Do look out for forthcoming announcements and save the date. I can let you know now that the Presidential Symposium will showcase, ‘Haematology beyond NHS70.’
Of timely relevance is the ongoing consultation on ‘the long-term Plan of the NHS’. Some of us have been engaged as stakeholders but the short timeline ahead of announcement in the autumn budget makes it challenging. What is uncontroversial is that all specialties can address concerns around over-diagnosis and over-treatment. BSH can subscribe to this patient safety agenda to ensure that Haematology will not be Harm-atology!
With my best wishes to you all,
Professor Cheng-Hock Toh
ASM 2019: Registrations now open / Submit your abstracts
With Professor Cheng-Hock Toh's ASM Presidential Symposium showcasing, 'Haematology beyond NHS70', watch our video, Celebrating NHS 70 and Haematology.