The Group held its most recent meeting in London at the offices of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Items of general interest are summarised below
Education and Certification of Radiopharmaceutical Scientists. The meeting was preceded, as have the last few, by a round-table discussion on issues of education and certification. State registration will be a requirement in the near future, yet the radiopharmaceutical scientist is not a recognised specialty. Initial approaches to the Council of Professions Supplementary to Medicine have not yet borne fruit. It has not been appreciated that there are routes into radiopharmacy other than pharmacy, nor that the role of a radiopharmaceutical scientist is quite different from that of a normal pharmacist. (Could any of us claim to be normal?) A syllabus which defines the training required by a radiopharmaceutical scientist is being assembled. A further issue is recognition of the professional and scientific aspects of radiopharmacy rather than seeing it merely as a largely technical service at an ungodly hour. Discussion of these issues will continue at Bournville (see below) and at the radiopharmacy session during the BNMS annual congress in Manchester.
Annual Radiopharmacy Workshop - Bournville January 2002. Plans are now finalised for our workshop to be held 18 January 2002. The scientific sessions will focus on research and development in radiopharmacy, while the training sessions will concentrate on the roles and functions of professional and technical staff in radiopharmacy as well as issues of training and continuing education. You should have recently received a letter of invitation, programme, and booking form, along with a questionnaire which will help us in planning the afternoon sessions. If you have not received this information, please contact Paul Maltby (address elsewhere in this Newsletter) or myself.
Thames Radiopharmacy Group. The next meeting of the Thames group, which is primarily of interest to those in the London region but open to all, is scheduled for 6 February 2002 at the Royal Free Hospital. Further information will be circulated closer to the event.
Improving Communication. Many of you belong to the RADPHARM e-mail discussion group which has some 600 members world-wide. Steve Mather has now instituted RADPHARMUK for the discussion of issues of relevance mainly to those in the UK. This will allow us to discuss regulatory and product availability issues without bothering the neighbours, as it were. (Much of the discussion on the PETMAIL group revolves around reimbursement issues applicable only to the USA.) The need for improved communication among radiopharmaceutical scientists in the UK was identified recently by the UKRG. It is hoped that RADPHARMUK will provide such a forum, allowing the sharing of information with colleagues in a convenient and accessible manner. Everyone who has asked to be included in the UKRG e-mail list has been invited to join RADPHARMUK. Anyone else who would like to join should contact: http://www.egroups.com/group/radpharmuk
Adverse Reactions / Defective Products. The latest report should be included with this Newsletter. Of note are a number of reports of technetium generator elution problems which do not fit the pattern of the wet column phenomenon, in that the yield did not recover on subsequent days. Please note that the BNMS offices have moved. Adverse reaction and defective product reports (on any version of the form other than stone tablets) should be sent to The Medical Assessor, Radiopharmaceutical Report Scheme, British Nuclear Medicine Society, Suite 111, Regent House, 291 Kirkdale, London SE26 4QD, fax 020 8676 8417. Reports can also be filed via this web site, though the current version does not allow you to print a hard copy for your own records.
Manufactured "Specials" for Radiopharmacy. There is a move toward rationalisation of "specials" manufacturing within the NHS. In order that we can provide informed input with respect to the range of products offered, preferred format, and manufacturer, could you please complete the accompanying form, adding products not listed, and return it to Paul Maltby.
Radiopharmacy Handbook. Work is progressing on the updated version of the Handbook to replace the 1997 version which is available on the BNMS web site. We anticipate that it will go live shortly.
Gastric Emptying Studies. At the recent BNMS autumn meeting in Belfast, Tracey Varney from Birmingham gave a hilarious presentation on the variability in meals, protocols, and normal ranges used for gastric emptying studies throughout the UK. (I can even claim to have been an alleged normal in a study of in vivo labelled sulphur colloid chicken liver aeons ago; not one of my more appetising breakfasts.) There was even talk of a cook book, perhaps to be called The Naked Radiopharmacist (that's enough to put you off your pudding). Of interest is a recent Swedish multicentre study of standardisation of technique and reference values: Gryback P, et al. Nationwide standardisation and evaluation of scintigraphic gastric emptying: reference values and comparisons between subgroups in a multicentre trial. Eur J Nucl Med 2000;27(6):647-655.
Note from the Editor This is the first Newsletter from your new editor, Jim Ballinger, Nuclear Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, phone 01223-217351, fax 01223 274596, e-mail jim.ballinger@addenbrookes.nhs.uk, I hope you found it both interesting and entertaining.
OVERHEARD at Chichester Cathedral, of all places. "Chemistry is the new Latin." Proficiency in Latin was for many years taken as an indication of a studious nature. Now, companies, law firms, and business schools are looking for candidates with a chemistry degree, because it is felt that you can't bluff your way through chemistry!