Latest News
The BOA’s response to COVID-19 The BOA has been very busy producing guidance documents and articles throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, working with the Colleges and NHS bodies to ensure patients and surgeons are supported during these unprecedented times. We highlight some of the recent work we have been doing here. We are very grateful to those who have committed time to helping the BOA with this output when many are working under very difficult circumstances.
Guidance for restarting non-urgent care As part of the move into the second phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, the topic of restarting nonurgent care is high on priority lists around the UK. The BOA has published its own guidance to help with the shift in practice that will be seen as we enter this new stage of response to COVID-19, and the restarting of elective orthopaedic care. The guidance we have created includes two documents: one is a summary document, which contains core principles about restarting aspects of orthopaedic care, whilst the second is a more detailed guidance document which provides further in depth discussion of the key points. We are aware that this shift towards restarting care will have many changes and so we will be updating these documents regularly as more information becomes available in this evolving situation. The documents can be viewed at: www.boa.ac.uk/guidance and we welcome any feedback to us at: policy@boa.ac.uk.
BOA Webinar - The Next Phase: Recovery of T&O Surgery Following the publication of our guidance, the BOA hosted a webinar to address some key points with regard to restarting of elective and non-urgent care within T&O. The panellists gave insights into their own experiences, including a presentation on the paediatric implications from Prof Deborah Eastwood as well as the anaesthetic view from Prof William Harrop-Griffiths of the Royal College of Anaesthetists. Following the presentations, time was given for discussion and questions from the audience, and the BOA would like to thank the audience for their engaging questions during the second half of the session. We had a large turnout and very positive response to the webinar and expect this to be the first of many. In case you missed it you can view the webinar at: https://www.boa.ac.uk/latest-news/ changes-to-orthopaedic-services-during-covid-19.html.
MDR regulations
The European Commission has adopted a proposal to postpone the application of the Medical Devices Regulation by one year. This decision has taken into account the unprecedented challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and the need for an increased availability of vitally important medical devices across the EU. The BOA will keep members updated with any further information we receive. More information and the full statement can be found at https:// ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/ detail/en/ip_20_589.
Cumberlege Report delayed The Independent Medicines & Medical Devices Safety Review was due to publish its report on surgical mesh implants on 24th March, however due to the Coronavirus pandemic the Review has decided to postpone this planned publication. The BOA will continue to keep abreast of any developments and will inform members when the report is published.
NICE Joint replacement update The BOA was expecting the publication of the NICE Joint replacement (primary): hip, knee and shoulder guideline in late March, following a consultation which we responded to. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NICE have confirmed they will not be publishing any draft or final guidelines until further notice. We will endeavour to keep members informed with any updates on this.
BOA Training Orthopaedic Trainers (TOTs) and Training Orthopaedic Education Supervisors (TOES) courses Delivery of future BOA-run face-to-face TOTs and TOES courses is being reviewed in keeping with the lockdown restriction guidelines. It is expected that face-to-face delivery of these courses will resume on the dates listed below. Further information will be updated on the BOA website at: https://www.boa.ac.uk/courses when course bookings are open. - TOTs: 3rd – 4th September 2020 (BOA London) - TOTs: 10th – 11th December 2020 (BOA London) - TOES: 18th December 2020 (BOA London)
06 | JTO | Volume 08 | Issue 02 | June 2020 | boa.ac.uk
