In September Dr Seamus O’Brien, Outcomes Unit Manager, at Musgrave Park Hospital, attended the Arthroplasty Care Practitioners Association (ACPA) meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel NEC Birmingham, UK, and sent this report.
The support from BART allowed me to attend this event and help build effective relationships between committee members from all over the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and NI). I have regularly communicated with many of these key ACPA members via email on clinical issues, audits and research proposals, and it was a genuine pleasure to meet many of them in person. It was good to meet Clare-Louise Sandell (Committee Chair) who acts as a figurehead and spokesperson for the ACPA. It was insightful to be involved in discussions regarding the annual report to ACPA members and the monitoring and reporting on the financial health of the organisation. We had a presentation from the membership secretary on how the ACPA can develop methods/action plans to attract new members and retain current members. There was a presentation (and live demonstration) regarding the ‘’Web and social media’’ and the developments/maintenance and editing of the new ACPA website and other social media sites. There were several stimulating presentations on the future direction of the ACPA. The Education Secretary discussed the promotion of relevant educational programmes via the ACPA website and other ACPA related social media forums. The discussion highlighted the importance of working with educational institutes to provide relevant educational packages for ACPA members, which will in turn benefit the care provided to Arthroplasty patients across the UK. We also talked about the ACPA Conference – 2018, which will be held in Leicester on 20-21st March with BASK. The meeting itself was excellent and provided many opportunities for continuing professional development and learning. Discussions/presentations were particularly informative and relevant to my ACP practice. This was not only useful for learning but also for confirmation/validation of current Arthroplasty practice back home in Belfast (MPH). Like any meeting much of the learning comes from conversations with other ACPA members outside the classroom at the meeting. There was much opportunity for these discussions. At the event, I was formally asked to become a member of the Committee in charge of the Arthroplasty Care Practitioners Association (ACPA). The meeting concluded with an agreement for the date of our next ACPA committee teleconference.