The deadline for abstracts to this years' ASGBI Congress in Edinburgh has finally come and gone, even with the obligatory extension.
The Oxford Surgical Emergency Unit (SEU) has really encouraged the entire SEU team to put all their efforts in to submitting the best projects that they have been working on over the last year. This fabulous team ranges from FY1 to Consultant and includes our Surgical Nurse Practitioners and AHPs.
I hope that all of you reading this have encouraged your respective teams to get involved with the ASGBI Congress and submit as much material as possible. Even if there are team members with nothing to submit, on this occasion, there are always other ways to get involved and help promote the event.
The ASGBI Congress is an event that allows teams from all over the country to come together, network and learn from one another. Every year I come away with so many ideas on how to improve our service or get that excitement about the new projects to get involved with.
This special event also allows individual teams to spend time together outside of the “day-job” in a relaxed environment. It is amazing how much work actually gets done in this manner. Think back to the days when the Drs Mess was ubiquitous within the NHS, so much work got done between teams over a coffee and slightly burnt toast after the ward round was finished.
We all work in multi-disciplinary teams now. Think of all the work that those team members are doing that may be relevant to the learning of other ASGBI members around the country.
Last year I heard a fantastic talk on the use of Penthrox in the setting of abscess drainage. I have taken this idea back to Oxford and, together with a great nursing team from our SEU Triage, am trying to robustly implement the same pathway. I am hoping the SEU Triage team will be able to share the outcome of this new patient pathway, and the learning we gained from it, at the ASGBI Congress in 2026.
There are so many surgeons (junior and senior) with fabulous ideas. They all need team support to realise the ideas. ASGBI provides this. ASGBI Congress provides this in person.
I look forward to seeing you all there, hopefully surrounded by your teams!
