MINUTES SECOND BUSINESS MEETING VENUE: DATE/TIME: Hilton Hotel, Auckland, New Zealand 17/04/2005 at 8.00 am 1.0 PRESENT: Ian Farey, Peter McCombe, Bryan Ashman and 40 other members detailed in the Attendance Book. 2.0 APOLOGIES: Nick Bogduk, Linton Giles, Robert Dickens, Geoff Askin, Peter Woodlands, Bruce Walker. 3.0 BUSINESS CARRIED OVER FROM FIRST BUSINESS MEETING: 3.1 Election of new members: Thirteen new active members and one associate member detailed in the minutes of the first business meeting were proposed by Andreas Loeffler and seconded by Dr John Liddell. The vote was passed unanimously. The Society congratulates the new members. 3.2 Site for 2007 and 2008: Motion: That Dr John Liddell be the convener for the 2007 meeting and that this meeting be held in Hobart. Proposed: Dr Bruce McPhee Seconded: Dr Peter Wilde 3.3 Site for the meeting in 2008: The proposal from the site Committee is Adelaide. To be voted upon in Adelaide. 3.4 Website: Motion: That up to $30,000 of Society funds be spent on the development of a new website. Proposed: Dr Greg Day Seconded Dr Andreas Loeffler Pending approval 1
3.5 Differential subscriptions: Motion: That the annual subscription rate for clinical members be $150 and for nonclinical members be $100. Proposed: Dr Brian Ashman Seconded: Dr Gary Speck 4.0 TREASURERS REPORT Dr Bryan Ashman spoke to the Treasurer s report. As of 15 th April the total funds of the Society were $228,886.00. The report had been independently audited by Moore Stephens, Chartered Accountants, Adelaide, dated 11 April 2005. 5.0 SECRETARY S REPORT The Society appears to be going through a period of transition where new responsibilities are being undertaken. The undertaking of these new responsibilities will place extra demands on the Secretary. The mail-out to non-member neurosurgeons was very time consuming and was performed at a time when the Secretariat in Adelaide was unable to help because of temporary staff shortages. This underlines the importance of having a functional Secretariat. The initial website development has also been very time consuming and this is expected to continue. It is likely that if this extra workload continues that further secretariat help will be required. It has become clear that at least one other executive meeting will be required throughout the year, rather than the current yearly meeting at the time of the AGM. It is possible that the requirement for executive meetings may increase to more than two a year, should the workload and direction of the Society increase. All of these requirements will put pressure on membership fees and it is possible that fee increases will be needed in the future. It is important that if fee increases are needed in order to accomplish productive work that these fees are quarantined to the members who will get the most benefit from this work. At present this would appear to be the surgeons or other clinicians and it is important that our non-clinical members will not be subjected to future increase in fees to pay for what may be mainly benefits for surgeons. Whilst it is clearly not necessary at present, it is possible that in the future a professional paid secretary will be required. 6.0 REPORT OF THE CHAIR OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE The Chair of the Nominating Committee, Dr Peter Robinson, reported that the following nominations exist for office bearers: Treasurer: Membership Committee: Site Committee member: Dr William Sears Dr Kevin Singer Simon Hadlow The above members were proposed by Nigel Jones and seconded by Dr Owen Williamson. Pending approval 2
7.0 ELECTION OF OFFICE BEARERS There being only one nomination for each position, the following office bearers were elected unanimously: Treasurer: Membership Committee Member: Site Committee Member: The Society congratulates the members on their election. Dr William Sears Kevin Singer Kevin Hadlow 8.0 PRESIDENTS REPORT Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, It has been a privilege to serve as President of the Spine Society of Australia during the past 12 months. It is a time of great potential change for our Society and our individual clinical practices. In recent times both Executive and Business Meetings of the Society, Members have expressed the desire for the Spine Society of Australia to become a voice for Standards of Practice in the treatment of spinal disorders and to be a vehicle which can influence government policy. Nigel Jones, our immediate Past President, in his 2004 Presidential Report considered that these aims have not been achieved for several reasons; Only 1 Executive Meeting each year making it difficult to formulate policy. Members already belong to other professional bodies such as the NSA and AOA producing divided loyalties. Lack of Neurosurgical Members in relation to Orthopaedic Members. Heterogeneous group including basic scientists and allied health professionals in addition to Neurosurgeons and Orthopaedic Surgeons. I agree with the first 3 reasons but believe that the heterogeneous group is a strength which can provide representative opinion with respect to all aspects of spinal disease. In a recent article, Hugh McKay, a leading Australian social commentator wrote that if you are unhappy with a particular situation then change must be enacted. He considered that nothing could be gained by merely complaining about the status quo. I believe that the expressed aims of the Membership can be achieved through a co-ordinated approach. Our entire membership will need to participate in this process and change will need to occur. The approach has many linked pathways. Firstly, the ASM is of prime importance. We must continue to hold meetings of an excellent standard, which will encourage attendance and participation. The meetings act as a vehicle for dissemination of knowledge, policy formation and social interaction. The ASM has improved with each passing year and now includes a full range of presentations including free papers, invited lecture seminars, poster presentations and basic science research. This year a record 70 abstracts were submitted for consideration. Pending approval 3
The SSA must become a more representative group and increase the numbers of Neurosurgeon members. To this end the Executive has actively encouraged Neurosurgeons who have a particular interest in spinal disorders to apply for membership of the Society. We have 13 new membership applications from Neurosurgeons to consider at this meeting. Improvement in our relationships with our parent organisations and the Royal Australian College of Surgeons is vital. The Executive has made a significant effort in this regard during the past year. This approach has already yielded results. The SSA Annual Meeting is now accredited at the highest level by both the RACS and AOA. Overseas specialty spinal meetings including CSFS, SRS and ISSLS are also accredited at the highest level. Professor Anne Kolbe, President of The Royal Australian College of Surgeons has foreshadowed a much closer relationship between the College and specialty societies. I believe our society should forge a closer relationship with the College by becoming a Registered Special Interest Group. This doesn t imply divorce from our parent organisations but is a method of expanding our influence with respect to the standards and treatment of spinal disorders. Efficient communication is paramount for the successful running of an organisation and interaction with other organisations. An interim SSA Executive Meeting was held in November 2004 which has led to improved communication, handling of business matters and policy consideration. I envisage that the Executive will meet on two occasions each year in the future. At the meeting it was proposed that a professional quality web site be established for the Society. I believe that this will improve communication from within our organisation and from without. I urge you to support this proposal. Finally, I consider that there is a need for increased collaboration between the disciplines of Orthopaedic Surgery and Neurosurgery to provide fellowships which expose Trainee Surgeons to the full range of skills necessary to be a confident Spinal Surgeon. This concept was initially explored by Alan Crockard in an editorial in the British Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery in 1992. In my opinion the coalescence of the two surgical specialties can provide a far better training programme than can either single specialty. This super specialisation implies limitation of horizons which will be difficult for many to accept. Spinal surgery should develop as a distinct specialty performed by surgeons who have had the benefit of broad training and research in their chosen discipline. This will improve the image of spinal surgery in the community through improved outcomes. In an era of increasing audit and malpractice suits the advantages of this approach are all too evident. In moving forward we must not forget our past. Many Australians have made major contributions to spinal surgery and spinal research. To this end the Spine Society has instituted a named award, the Allan Dwyer Medal, for outstanding achievement in the field of Spinal Surgery and Research. Allan Dwyer was a pioneer in scoliosis surgery and introduced anterior instrumentation and correction of spinal deformity. It is also the intention of the Executive to appoint a Society Archivist to ensure that our history is recorded and our past not forgotten. Pending approval 4
In conclusion I would like to thank the Members of the Executive for their efforts on behalf of the Society. In particular I would like to thank Peter McCombe who has been a very capable and efficient Secretary during the past 12 months. This Meeting has been very successful and I thank the Convenor Peter Robertson for his excellent choice of venue and Wayne Taylor the Conference Organiser for their efforts. Special thanks to Bruce McPhee, Editorial Secretary who has organised a superb scientific programme. I look forward to serving as your President in the coming year. 9.0 OTHER BUSINESS 9.1 Conference fees: Various discussion from the floor occurred about the need to keep the registration cost for the Annual General Meeting at an affordable level for basic scientists. Many members, including Barry Slinger and Kevin Singer, spoke of the need for this. A general consensus existed that there should be a 50% reduction in the registration fee for basic scientists. Motion That basic scientists pay a 50% reduction on the normal registration fee for the Annual General Meeting. Proposed Roy Carey Seconded John Liddell. 9.2 Business meetings: Nigel Jones suggested that consideration could be given to merge two business meetings into one meeting as there was usually poor attendance at the second business meeting. Gary Speck spoke of the need to modify the program if this were the case. Peter McCombe said that if this were the case, alternative arrangements for the Nominating Committee to meet would be required and that they would need to be elected prior to the business meeting. No resolution was achieved on this matter and it was agreed to carry over to the next business meeting. 9.3 Vote of thanks to retiring Treasurer, Brian Ashman: Motion That a vote of thanks be made to Bryan Ashman who has retired after three years of outstanding work for the Society. The Society finances are in an excellent position thanks to Bryan s hard work. Proposed Seconded Barrie Slinger Roy Carey Pending approval 5
9.4 Disc replacement registry: Roy Carey suggested that members undertaking disc replacement could consider using the Australian Orthopaedic Association Arthroplasty Registry. Gary Speck further spoke to the possibility of this being used and it was agreed that the Society will negotiate with the AOA Joint Replacement Registry. Peter McCombe reported that an audit system could be developed on the website though it would require someone to take on this as a task, as at this stage it was beyond the Secretary s capacity to take on another project. There were no volunteers from the floor. 9.5 Social events: Roy Carey commented that for a three night meeting, it is important that one night be free and that there was another night when meetings could be organised for industry. Meeting closed at: 9.00 a.m. Pending approval 6