Information on BGS Spring Meeting cancellation

The BGS has taken the decision to cancel the Spring Meeting that was due to be held from 1-3 April at the University of Manchester.

This is in response to the growing coronavirus outbreak and the need to do our part to contain the spread of the virus.

Many of our conference speakers and delegates are frontline health professionals working extremely hard in responding to the outbreak. We are conscious that geriatricians and multidisciplinary professionals are caring for older people living with frailty and multi-morbidity, who are known to be particularly vulnerable to the virus. We do not want to put anyone - and particularly those whose job it is to look after the health of those who are ill – at additional risk by close proximity to hundreds of others at a three-day event.

We are also aware that Trusts depend on their staff to respond to what will be increasing numbers of people requiring healthcare. They are cancelling study leave and restricting travel for staff. The BGS wants to support its members to provide high-quality patient care at this challenging time, and has thus regretfully decided to cancel the Spring Meeting and other conferences that were due to take place from 1 April over the coming four months.

 
The BGS will be in touch this week with those who had been planning to attend the Spring Meeting: speakers, delegates, sponsors and partners. Please see the information below for each group and also our FAQs.
 
 

Speakers

Why is the 2020 Spring Meeting being cancelled?

As the leading health organisation for improving healthcare for older people, the BGS takes seriously its responsibility to protect clinicians and the public from contracting COVID-19 and to ensure that the NHS is as prepared as it can be for increased demand.

As most of those attending the annual conference are doctors and other health professionals, working with a particularly vulnerable patient group, this move signals the BGS’s concern to protect the NHS and the international workforce as best it can. Given the likely duration of this situation, we decided to cancel rather than postpone. We explored a number of different ways to continue with the event remotely but do not consider it feasible at this stage.

Will I be able to speak at a future conference?

Yes, most definitely. We are keen to provide the opportunity for you to speak at a BGS meeting and understand how busy our speaking faculty are. We will be in be touch with you personally about how we can reschedule your involvement at a future meeting.

If you have any questions about this or you have not already been contacted by the Director of Learning and Professional Development, please email us at conferences [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk or telephone 0207 608 8573.

 
Will the costs of my prearranged travel and accommodation still be reimbursed?

We would ask that you first contact your travel provider to confirm whether a refund or transfer of ticket is available. If this is not possible, we will honour our commitment to reimburse invited speaker travel costs up to the amount stated in our original invitation. For BGS members speaking at the conference who were funding their own travel and accommodation costs, where refund or transfer is not possible we will also look to reimburse you at this time.

If you have any questions about this or you have not already been contacted by the Director of Learning and professional development, please email us at conferences [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk or telephone 0207 608 8573.

Can’t find the answer to your query here?

If you can’t find the answer to your query in any of these FAQs then please email us at conferences [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk. We aim to respond to your email within 5 working days. We will respond to emails in the order in which they are received. We have a small staff team at the BGS so we ask for your patience as we deal with a high volume of queries.

 

Delegates

Why is the 2020 Spring Meeting being cancelled?
 
As the leading health organisation for improving healthcare for older people, the BGS takes seriously its responsibility to protect clinicians and the public from contracting COVID-19 and to ensure that the NHS is as prepared as it can be for increased demand.

As most of those attending the annual conference are doctors and other health professionals, working with a particularly vulnerable patient group, this move signals the BGS’s concern to protect the NHS and the international workforce as best it can. Given the likely duration of this situation, we decided to cancel rather than postpone. We explored a number of different ways to continue with the event remotely but do not consider it feasible at this stage.

 
What happens to my registration fee?

We are sorry the meeting is cancelled but hope you understand the reasons for the decision. Given the extraordinary circumstances, we will transfer your registration to the next three-day BGS meeting, to be held from 24 to 27 November 2020 in London. Let us know by 31 March 2020 if you would prefer your registration to be transferred to a later meeting.

 
The future BGS meetings are:

If you would like to request a refund instead of a credit to a future meeting, please email registrations [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk but please allow 10 working days for us to get back to you. We will refund your registration in full, where needed. Please consult our terms and conditions here, under clause 8.

 
Will the costs of my prearranged travel and accommodation still be reimbursed?

Unfortunately, we cannot be responsible for travel and accommodation costs you may have already incurred; we regret that these costs are outside of our control. Please check with your travel company and accommodation provider if refunds are possible. If you booked via BCDME, and depending on the type of hotel rate selected you may be able to cancel or amend your reservation without charge. All terms and conditions of your hotel reservation will be outlined on your original confirmation email. Should you wish to cancel your booking please email sarah [at] bcdme [dot] com or call one of our consultants on +44 0203 238 7133. A team of specialist consultants are available to contact between 08:30 - 17:30 Monday to Friday and all emails received outside these hours will be answered when the office is next open.

 

Can’t find the answer to your query here?

If you can’t find the answer to your query in any of these FAQs then please email us at conferences [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk. We aim to respond to your email within 5 working days. We will respond to emails in the order in which they are received. We have a small staff team at the BGS so we ask for your patience as we deal with a high volume of queries.

 

Sponsors

Why is the 2020 Spring Meeting being cancelled?
 
As the leading health organisation for improving healthcare for older people, the BGS takes seriously its responsibility to protect clinicians and the public from contracting COVID-19 and to ensure that the NHS is as prepared as it can be for increased demand.

As most of those attending the annual conference are doctors and other health professionals, working with a particularly vulnerable patient group, this move signals the BGS’s concern to protect the NHS and the international workforce as best it can. Given the likely duration of this situation, we decided to cancel rather than postpone. We explored a number of different ways to continue with the event remotely but do not consider it feasible at this stage.

 
What happens to the sponsorship fees I paid?

We are grateful to our sponsors for the support they provide our events but we hope you understand the reasons for the decision to cancel on this occasion. Given the extraordinary circumstances, we would propose transferring your sponsorship to the next three-day BGS meeting, to be held from 24 to 27 November 2020 in London. Let us know by 31 March 2020 if you would prefer your registration to be transferred to a later meeting.

 
The future BGS meetings are:

 

We will refund your sponsorship in full if you wish. If you would like to request a refund instead of a credit to a future meeting, please email conferences [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk but please allow 10 working days for us to get back to you.
 
Will the costs of my prearranged travel and accommodation still be reimbursed?

Unfortunately, we cannot be responsible for travel and accommodation costs you may have already incurred; we regret that these costs are outside of our control. Please check with your travel company and accommodation provider if refunds are possible.

 

Abstracts

Why is the 2020 Spring Meeting being cancelled?

As the leading health organisation for improving healthcare for older people, the BGS takes seriously its responsibility to protect clinicians and the public from contracting COVID-19 and to ensure that the NHS is as prepared as it can be for increased demand.

As most of those attending the annual conference are doctors and other health professionals, working with a particularly vulnerable patient group, this move signals the BGS’s concern to protect the NHS and the international workforce as best it can. Given the likely duration of this situation, we decided to cancel rather than postpone. We explored a number of different ways to continue with the event remotely but do not consider it feasible at this stage.

What happens to my registration fee?

We are sorry the meeting is cancelled but hope you understand the reasons for the decision. Given the extraordinary circumstances, we will transfer your registration to the next three-day BGS meeting, to be held from 24 to 27 November 2020 in London. Let us know by 31 March 2020 if you would prefer your registration to be transferred to a later meeting.

 
The future BGS meetings are:
If you would like to request a refund instead of a credit to a future meeting, please email registrations [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk but please allow 10 working days for us to get back to you. We will refund your registrations in full, where needed. Please consult our terms and conditions here under clause 8.
 
Will the costs of my prearranged travel and accommodation still be reimbursed?

Unfortunately, we cannot be responsible for travel and accommodation costs you may have already incurred; we regret that these costs are outside of our control. Please check with your travel company and accommodation provider if refunds are possible.

Will my abstract still be accepted to present on rescheduled conference dates?

Absolutely, all delegate bookings and accepted abstracts will be transferred to a future conference. Please email abstracts [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk to confirm which meeting you would prefer for your poster or platform presentation.

I have already submitted my abstract. Do I need to resubmit this for a future meeting?

If you wish to present your abstract at a future meeting you do not need to submit a new version of your abstract. You will need to email abstracts [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk by 1 October 2020 to confirm which meeting you would prefer for your poster or platform presentation.
 

Will my abstract still be published in the Age and Ageing journal supplement?

Successful abstracts will no longer be published in a Spring Meeting supplement at this time. Abstracts will be published in the supplement to the next meeting.

 
Will new abstract submissions be accepted for the future conferences?

Yes. Abstract submission windows are available here. Please check back on the website for confirmed dates. Please contact abstracts [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk for further information.

 
Will I be able to amend my accepted abstract?

No amendments will be possible to abstracts that have already been accepted.

 
Can’t find the answer to your query here?

If you can’t find the answer to your query in any of these FAQs then please email us at registrations [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk or abstracts [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk. We aim to respond to your email within 10 working days. We will respond to emails in the order in which they are received.
 

General FAQs

Will I get my money back?

We are sorry the meeting is cancelled but hope you understand the reasons for the decision. Given the extraordinary circumstances, we will transfer your registration to the next three-day BGS meeting, to be held from 24 to 27 November 2020 in London. Let us know by 31 March 2020 if you would prefer your registration to be transferred to a later meeting. If you would like to request a refund instead of a credit to a future meeting, please email registrations [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk but please allow 10 working days for us to get back to you. We will refund your registrations in full, where needed. Please consult our terms and conditions here under clause 8.

What other events has the BGS cancelled?

All BGS meetings and joint meetings due to be held between 1 April 2020 until 11 September 2020 have been postponed or cancelled. Further information relating to arrangements for specific events will be provided in due course.

The following events are affected:

We will monitor the COVID-19 situation and the advice from Public Health England and update our advice over the coming months. We will provide an update on plans for the autumn series of events by early June at the latest. At this time we have no plans to postpone or cancel the BGS Autumn meeting but will keep this under review. Details of this event are below:

  • 2020 Autumn Meeting
    Date(s): Wed 25 - Fri 27 November 2020
    Location: Platinum Suite, ExCeL London

I am due to attend a BGS committee meeting after 1 April. What is happening to these?

Currently BGS committee meetings are going ahead as planned, although we strongly encourage you to join via videolink or phone. Contact m [dot] stewart [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk for dial in details or to send apologies if clinical services, the burden of work or staff shortages require.

Can’t you do livestreaming?

We have explored this option and the possibility of making webinars or recordings available online. Many of our conference speakers and delegates are frontline health professionals working extremely hard in responding to the outbreak. As there will be a higher than usual demand on these speakers to manage COVID-19 cases and to deliver services in a context of staff shortages, it will be very challenging to secure a guaranteed time commitment from many speakers to record presentations. We will look into the possibility of establishing a webinar series including presentations from some speakers and will provide more information on this in due course.

What are other conference providers doing about the outbreak?

As you are likely aware, a number of other organisations have cancelled conferences which were due to take place over the coming months. We are also now aware that Trusts and overseas organisations are cancelling study leave and restricting travel for staff. The decision has been taken as far in advance as possible to allow those attending to amend their plans. This is a rapidly developing situation and the decision has been based on the increasing numbers of people infected in the UK and the measures being taken to contain or delay the spread of the virus. We have also been following advice from Public Health England and other government bodies. 

How are you going to let people know of this cancellation?

We will be emailing all delegates and have created this FAQ page which we will update. Our newsletter, ebulletins and social media will also carry information about developments. If you were attending a BGS meeting, please confirm to registrations [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk to acknowledge the cancellation of the meetings you were due to attend by 31 March 2020.

I booked for the dinner and the run. What happens about refunding me?

There is no charge for the run or walking tour to delegates but the BGS have incurred costs to provide these facilities. We will be unable to recoup these costs at this time. Given the extraordinary circumstances we will transfer your registration including the dinner ticket to a future BGS meeting. This will be our default action if we don’t hear from you by the 31 March 2020. We will refund your registrations in full, where needed. Please consult our terms and conditions here under clause 8.