22 January 2018

New Chairman: After a number of years in the post, Jo Church, who has admirably led on patient liaison and PPI and whose activity saw to the creation of the PLG, has decided to step down. She will be succeeded as Chairman of the PLG by Professor Robert Arnott, the current Deputy Chairman. All the members of the PLG and very many patients around the British Isles are deeply indebted to Jo for her work and leadership and wish her a very happy retirement.

Introducing Sarah Squire Sarah Squire, is a Research Assistant at Oxford University and had stoma surgery in 2007.  Sarah is a volunteer and Trustee of  Colostomy UK and has recently taken up the role of Co-Editor of their quarterly magazine, Tidings. She arrives with wide experience of representing patients and understanding their perspective. Sarah is joining the PLG on the retirement of Jo Church, who has been Patient Representative on ACPGBI Council (2008-2015) and then Chair of the newly formed PLG since 2015.  Jo was previously a member and then Vice-Chair of the Royal College of Surgeons PLG from the early 2000s. Read More about the work of your PLG The ACPGBI PLG is composed of 4 volunteers with the Chair attending ACPGBI Council. It brings matters of patient concern to Council, and offers its resources to help the Association deliver a professional service to meet the current and future needs of colorectal patients. All PLG members act entirely as independent private individuals and none can be paid employees of charities. The work includes responding promptly to requests from the ACPGBI for comments and views, written patient commentaries to accompany documents, providing explanatory information for patients, and involvement in patient representation at internal ACPGBI committees but also more widely, such as the National Bowel Cancer Audit(NBOCA). The PLG adheres to its strict terms of reference and receives only subsistence travel expenses. It works at a strategic level, and is not engaged with individual patients, which is the work of the colorectal charities. It is also a resource for the membership, and has prepared patient benefit statements to accompany research grant applications upon request. For further information see the Patient Section of the ACPGBI website.

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