Core Group Updates


BPNG Update CAROLYN WHEATLEY, CHAIR – PINNT


Celebrating the Life of Geoff Simmonett


“… make the most of life no matter what – it's not always easy, but it's a lot more fun than sitting back and feeling sorry for myself.” Geoff Simmonett, 2006


Geoff Simmonett suddenly passed away on 26th February 2010. Geoff, a PEG patient himself, was committed to PINNT and its members, promoting PINNT’s ethos at any given opportunity.


Geoff was a familiar face at the PINNT exhibition stand during the BAPEN conferences.


Undeterred by his inability to communicate verbally Geoff had a great substitute – a pen and post it pad! Nothing, and I mean nothing, ever stopped Geoff from introducing himself to keen delegates and even friends from industry. His determination to represent patients was evident. Many patients find it difficult to enter into such a public arena while managing their personal situation; Geoff was always the first to volunteer if he thought he could help, he was a true Ambassador for patients and PINNT.


During his time representing PINNT within BAPEN he sat on council,


helped write patient literature for enteral tube feeding, chaired LITRE and, for a brief spell, sat on the Research and Science committee.


Geoff ’s attributes were vast; his love of life, his impeccable manners, a dance, a gin and tonic… he maintained a positive outlook no matter what.


Geoff was a member of PINNT’s Executive Committee and served as


Treasurer amongst other things. In June 2009, Geoff stepped down from Office and we gave him a small presentation. We gathered some photos of Geoff and paid a tribute to him in person so he knew how we all felt about him – we based it on a James Bond theme; he loved it, so did his wife Annette.


Geoff has left a gaping hole within the PINNT Committee, our family is missing a loved one and we will endeavour to continue our work based on Geoff ’s philosophy “…make the most of life no matter what – it’s not always easy, but it’s a lot more fun than sitting back and feeling sorry for myself.”


Committee Group Updates


BANS Update TREVOR SMITH, CHAIRMAN – BANS


BANS is currently going through a considerable period of change; reporting rates fell off considerably during 2009 and the committee recognise that consent has been a major obstacle.


We have been liaising closely with the National Information and Governance Board (NIGB), who formally considered our proposal to remove the requirement for reporters to obtain consent in February 2010. NIGB have been supportive of our plans and have agreed with our proposal which is excellent news. Reporters are, therefore, no longer required to obtain consent from patients prior to registration with BANS.


We agreed with NIGB, two years ago, that we would move to an electronic reporting system – E-BANS. This has been very well received by reporters, although we are aware that some centres continue to submit data to BANS in writing, using the yellow forms. We are working with our data management company, Streets-Heaver, to explore ways in which we can support reporters using E-BANS, although, we hope that the removal of consent will be a significant benefit.


We have been planning to end the paper reporting system for some time but have delayed this whilst we have been liaising with NIGB. We do, however, need to move forward with these plans and we are, therefore, planning to change to the exclusive use of electronic reporting from 1st June


2010. We are no longer able to issue new copies of the yellow forms but will accept any existing forms up to the end of July 2010. E-BANS can be accessed at: www.e-bans.com and the login details can be obtained by contacting Streets Heaver at: Bans@Streets-Heaver.com


The BANS committee will continue to publish an annual report and the E-BANS website will also enable reporters to produce their own local reports. In addition, we are also planning to conduct a national survey of enteral nutrition practice this year – we will write separately about this but we hope this will allow BANS and BAPEN to establish standards of care for HETF patients.


BANS is a unique national audit of clinical nutrition practice and has made some vital contributions to the planning and delivery of high quality nutritional care in the UK. BANS reporters are key to this success and the BANS committee thank all reporters for their hard work, dedication and support. We are confident that the changes we are putting in place over the next few months will secure the future success of BANS.


BAPEN In Touch No.57 May 2010 8


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