BAUS 2020 Virtual

On behalf of BAUS I am delighted to welcome you to the BAUS 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting. It is impossible to have envisaged the events which have occurred since our last, very successful, Glasgow meeting in June 2019. That now seems a long time ago. This meeting was originally due to take place in June 2020, but on March 19th we took the decision, in the light of the COVID-19 crisis, to postpone until later in the year and I’m delighted that we are able to hold the 75th Annual meeting virtually. Because of this, by the time of the actual meeting, I will be the Immediate Past President and my successor, Tim O’Brien, will have taken over the role of President. I wish him and Jo Cresswell, who became Vice President in June, all the very best for the future.

This year, as you will be aware, marks the 75th Year of the formation of our organization. When BAUS was formed in 1945, 29 surgeons interested in Urology met with the purpose of discussing the challenges of urological practice and training and the arrival of the “new” NHS. Three quarters of a century later we now have almost 2000 members and are facing the biggest healthcare crisis in a generation.

2020 also happens to be the 25th year since The Urology Foundation (TUF previously the British Urological Foundation until 2009) was formed by a joint initiative between BAUS and the British Journal of Urology (BJU). The British Association of Urological Nurses (BAUN) is also 25 years old this year and the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) Section of Urology is an impressive 100 years old. All these organisations joined forces to mark 100 years of urological care in the UK. We laid great plans for a rolling celebration and series of events to mark these important milestones, increase public awareness and raise funds for all of urology, under the common banner of “Urology 2020 – 100 years of excellence”. These plans have largely been put on hold by the current situation and they will carry on into next year, culminating in a celebratory meeting and gala dinner which has been pushed back a year to October 2021.

When we decided to build the meeting around the theme of “FutUrology: Celebrating the Past, Present and Future of Urology”, none of us were aware of just how much the landscape was about to change. 2020, so far, has been a remarkable year and one which has seen many challenges and huge changes in our practice and lives in general. This will be reflected in the programme and there is a specific session related to delivering urological services during the COVID-19 crisis.

Many congratulations to our medal winners this year who are Professor Prokar Dasgupta (St. Peter’s), Professor Margaret Pearle (St Paul’s) and Mr Simon Harrison (BAUS Gold Medal) – all extremely well-deserved. I am delighted that we will this year also get to hear Mr David Nott deliver the BAUS 75th Anniversary Humanitarian Lecture, as he had to cancel his previous talk in BAUS 2016, as he had to deploy to a warzone.

I am very grateful for the huge amount of work done by the Programme Committee, led by our Honorary Secretary, Asif Muneer, in organising this meeting, very ably assisted by Ian Pearce (Honorary Secretary Elect), and the BAUS events team of Harry Heald and Louise Finch. It takes a great deal of effort to make such a large and complex meeting run seamlessly. I must also thank our Sections, abstract markers, and all the speakers, chairs and presenters for giving up their time and expertise so readily. Our industry partners have generously, and without question, supported this rescheduled meeting and for this we are very grateful. Please do visit the virtual stands and interact with them. Also, the entire meeting would not be as successful and enjoyable without your input and interaction as a delegate – so, thank you. This meeting should prove to be a real opportunity for us all to regroup after what has been, for many, a difficult and challenging year. I would hope that we are all able to recharge our urological, professional, and social batteries and re-connect with the whole urological community – which has pulled together excellently over the last few months.