15 January 2018

Have you experienced bowel disease or surgery? Do you want to make a difference for other patients?

ACPGBI is seeking two people who have been recent patients to serve as trustees on our Trustee Board. The ACPGBI is a charity, and is composed of some 1000+ surgeons, nurses and allied professionals who work in the area of Coloproctology, which includes all diseases of the lower part of the intestines. This includes benign conditions (such as Crohn’s Disease) as well as bowel and rectal cancer. The charity promotes best clinical practice through education and training, supports research and audit, and disseminates information to both professionals and the public. A major event is the annual Conference, which attracts some 700+ delegates from the UK and internationally. The current Trustee Board is mainly made up of clinicians and has a small number of lay trustees who provide wider expertise. We are all keen to recruit two patient trustees, to help us focus on the difference the charity seeks to make for colorectal patients and the wider public. Charity trustees share the ultimate responsibility for governing the charity and directing how it is managed and run, and they remain entirely independent of those involved in the day-to-day management of a charity. You can find out more about our trustees here. The ACPGBI trustees hold approximately 3 face-to-face or teleconference meetings per annum. Requirements As a candidate, you will have a strong belief in the highest standards of patient care, and a desire to make a difference. You will be comfortable and confident contributing in a committee environment and with a range of people round the table. You will be able to stand back from your personal situation to reflect the range of patient experience. You will support the charity’s aims to advance the science and practice of Coloproctology, and will have the commitment and time to attend meetings and engage in the charity’s work. As a patient trustee, you will not be medically or surgically qualified in the field of Coloproctology or be a paid employee of a charity allied to Coloproctology. Neither you nor any of your family will be employed by a medical device company or a pharmaceutical company which supplies the field of Coloproctology.  All trustees are expected to declare any conflicts of interest. You can find out more about ACPGBI below and on our website. You can learn more about the role of a charity trustee from the Charity Commission . More about ACPGBI The ACPGBI is funded mainly through subscription of its membership and through donations. It provides professional support and development to members.  It also incorporates trainee surgeons in its work, and has a separate charitable body which raises funds for research, the Bowel Disease Research Foundation (which has its own Board and trustees). There is a Patient Liaison Group, which comprises volunteer patient and patient advocates who advise on all areas of patient concern. The Association has a small Executive group who formulate strategy, and a Council which meets three times each year, and which is composed of representatives from regional groups (Chapters) and other non-surgical representatives from Oncology, Radiology and other allied professionals. Only two paid employees form its Secretariat, and it relies on the goodwill of its members to deliver its aims and objectives in all other respects. To apply If you wish to apply to be a Patient Trustee please do so by letter,  outlining how you meet the requirements above, addressed to Professor R J C Steele, Chair of the Board of Trustees and include your CV. Please email your application to Anne O'Mara with Patient Trustee Application in the subject line. The deadline for applications is Monday 19 March 2018.

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