CHairman's message

Felicity Howard
GAT Chairman, 2009 onwards
Email: gat@aagbi.org

Many of you will be aware of the multiple changes within the GAT Committee over the last few weeks. It is my pleasure to have taken over as Chair from Dr Chris Meadows, and my first job is to thank him for all his hard work during his past two years as Chairman. He has left GAT in a very healthy position, widely known for providing a consistent voice for trainees on important issues, and I can only hope to emulate his example. On a personal note, I am currently based in the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff where my specialty is paediatric anaesthesia. I am one of many who commute long distances to work and back each day and I am only too aware of the many challenges this brings.

The GAT Committee is currently involved in many topical issues including those surrounding the imminent full implementation of the European Working Time Directive (EWTD). We will be monitoring the situation closely over the coming weeks, particularly as regards the implications for training under these conditions. Please feel free to feedback your own experiences to us at gat@aagbi.org We are also involved in patient safety issues along with the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA), including the introduction of the World Health Organisation Surgical Safety Checklist, so watch our web-pages for more information. We aim to keep our web-pages as up-to-date as possible to enable you to see what the GAT Committee have been up to on your behalf. However, as always we exist primarily to represent your views but we cannot do this accurately if we do not know what they are. Please help us by filling out our occasional on-line surveys and please never hesitate to contact as at gat@aagbi.org about any new issues or those where you feel we have got it right (or wrong). We are always keen to hear from you. Please also encourage friends and colleagues to join the AAGBI – trainees will automatically become members of GAT and the many benefits of membership of the AAGBI can be found on the web-pages.

I think you will agree that the recent GAT Annual Scientific Meeting in Cambridge this month was a resounding success and thanks must be extended to the Local Organising Committee (LOC) under the leadership of Professor David Menon and Dr Claire Williams (a newly elected GAT Committee member) for all their hard work. Plans for the GAT ASM 2010 in Cardiff are well under way, ably led by Professor Judith Hall. I do hope you will join the Committee there in July 2010 at what is our flagship event put on especially for you.

Over the next year I hope to continue the excellent work of GAT, and to develop closer links with specialist society trainee representatives and local trainee groups. If you are involved in any of these then please contact me on the above e-mail address to see how we can engage. I also hope to increase the GAT involvement with the trainee work of the International Relations Committee, another area close to my heart. Above all I plan to work hard for you and have fun doing so!