VOL. 3, NO 1 WINTER 2020 1 Dear Members, As the outgoing Chair of BCIG, I’m excited to shortly test drive the role of first Immediate Past Chair as Helen Cullington takes over as Chair. It has been a great honour to work on the board of trustees (formerly Council), an enormous pleasure to be involved in the many projects which we have initiated or collaborated in over my time as Chair and a wonderful privilege to work alongside such amazing and inspiring BCIG colleagues. Please come along to BCIG 2020 in Nottingham, to find out about exciting developments on the horizon. For instance, there will be a BCIG device registry workshop - don’t miss this opportunity to contribute to the data set debate! We are also thrilled to launch the CI Champions programme. This is new a collaboration between BCIG and BAA to encourage CI education and links with local audiology centres, to improve rates and quality. We are excited to welcome audiology colleagues from around the UK on day 2, for a parallel workshop and to experience our fabulous annual conference. We are delighted to be bringing Professor Patricia Oakley to BCIG 2020. A fabulous interactive speaker, she will bring her experience in NHS strategy and policy and apply it to cochlear implants. Are we ready?! When both Kate Hanvey (Secretary) and I step down in March 2020, the board will consist of 4 audiology, 1 rehab and 1 medical member (plus me as IPC, very much a behind-the-scenes role). We have two vacancies arising, Secretary and Vice-Chair. All eligible members are very warmly encouraged to apply and if your area is under-represented at the moment, you know what to do! I look forward to seeing you at BCIG 2020. Tracey Twomey, Chair Members Newslette Members’ Newsletter Increasing the profile of rehabilitation and acknowledging its importance within the cochlear implant field and hearing impairment in general, is essential. Could this be the start of something refreshing! The BCIG Annual Conference in Southampton featured presentations specifically relevant to rehabilitationists and which should certainly shake up the thinking and support offered to very young children. In addition to this the prestigious Graham Fraser Memorial Lecture by Prof. Warner-Czyz focused on CI children’s communication and quality of life. This information should inspire research questions, audit and case studies in the field of early language development within rehabilitation teams. At BCIG we want to promote research, discussion and share information. To this end please contact BCIG via email so that we can communicate work which is being completed to other rehabilitationists and CI team members and continue to increase the profile of rehabilitation. Helen Peebles, Editor
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VOL. 3, NO 1 WINTER 2020
1
Dear Members,
As the outgoing Chair of BCIG, I’m excited to shortly test drive the role of
first Immediate Past Chair as Helen Cullington takes over as Chair. It has
been a great honour to work on the board of trustees (formerly Council),
an enormous pleasure to be involved in the many projects which we have
initiated or collaborated in over my time as Chair and a wonderful privilege
to work alongside such amazing and inspiring BCIG colleagues.
Please come along to BCIG 2020 in Nottingham, to find out about exciting
developments on the horizon. For instance, there will be a BCIG device
registry workshop - don’t miss this opportunity to contribute to the data set
debate! We are also thrilled to launch the CI Champions programme. This
is new a collaboration between BCIG and BAA to encourage CI education
and links with local audiology centres, to improve rates and quality. We
are excited to welcome audiology colleagues from around the UK on day
2, for a parallel workshop and to experience our fabulous annual
conference.
We are delighted to be bringing Professor Patricia Oakley to BCIG 2020.
A fabulous interactive speaker, she will bring her experience in NHS
strategy and policy and apply it to cochlear implants. Are we ready?!
When both Kate Hanvey (Secretary) and I step down in March 2020, the
board will consist of 4 audiology, 1 rehab and 1 medical member (plus me
as IPC, very much a behind-the-scenes role). We have two vacancies
arising, Secretary and Vice-Chair. All eligible members are very warmly
encouraged to apply and if your area is under-represented at the moment,
you know what to do!
I look forward to seeing you at BCIG 2020.
Tracey Twomey, Chair
Members’
Newsletter
Members’
Newsletter
Increasing the profile of rehabilitation and
acknowledging its importance within the
cochlear implant field and hearing
impairment in general, is essential. Could
this be the start of something refreshing!
The BCIG Annual Conference in
Southampton featured presentations
specifically relevant to rehabilitationists
and which should certainly shake up the
thinking and support offered to very young
children. In addition to this the prestigious
Graham Fraser Memorial Lecture by Prof.
Warner-Czyz focused on CI children’s
communication and quality of life. This
information should inspire research
questions, audit and case studies in the
field of early language development within
rehabilitation teams.
At BCIG we want to promote research,
discussion and share information. To this
end please contact BCIG via email so that
we can communicate work which is being
completed to other rehabilitationists and
CI team members and continue to
increase the profile of rehabilitation.
Helen Peebles, Editor
VOL. 3, NO 1 WINTER 2020
2
BCIG Conference 2019 (Solent Conference Centre, Southampton)
Carl Verschuur, Service Director, University of Southampton Auditory Implant Service
The University of Southampton Auditory Implant Service (AIS) were proud hosts of the 2019 British Cochlear Implant
Group annual conference on April 4th and 5th. Clinicians, researchers, manufacturers and cochlear implant users united
under the theme ‘Connecting for Life’ for the cross-disciplinary meeting, with over 230 people attending.
The venue was “The Spark”, a new (and rather futuristic-looking)
conference centre in Southampton city centre. The event was
opened by Mark Spearing, President and Acting Vice-Chancellor of
the University of Southampton, who took the opportunity to highlight
the fact that the meeting coincided with the recent and very positive
news that NICE guidelines have been updated and widened to allow
greater access than ever to cochlear implantation.
Discussion was fueled by over 50 posters and 15 free papers as well as
invited faculty talks, along with a range of manufacturer and other
exhibits, and technology suites. Daniel Moualed won the presentation
prize for best free paper for his talk on “Patient experience and
complications in auditory implant recipients undergoing magnetic
resonance imaging.” A number of talks also included contributions from
cochlear implant users, and there was a very stimulating debate around
the question of whether individuals should be able to self-refer to cochlear
implant centres.
One of the highlights of the meeting was the high standard of contributions from the invited speakers, who gave
outstanding talks on a range of areas. Robert Shephard kicked off the meeting with an overview of the early days of
implantation and also new developments in neuro-implantable devices. The delegates heard from other key note
speakers on the neuroanatomy of speech and language and its implications for early cochlear implantation (Paul Johns),
new ways of understanding the electrode-cochlear interface (Manohar Bance) and the link between dementia and
hearing loss (Sergi Costafreda-Gonzalez). The Graham Fraser Memorial lecture, which rounded off day 1, was given
by Andrew Warner-Czyz on the topic of development of social relationships in children with cochlear implants.
VOL. 3, NO 1 WINTER 2020
3
Delegates got a special access to Southampton City art gallery
before enjoying the gala dinner. This included a very entertaining
and wide-ranging speech by Quentin Summerfield, in honour of
his recent retirement and enormous contribution to development
of cochlear implantation in the UK. He was presented with a
retirement gift by Tracey Twomey on behalf of the BCIG, before
the assembled crowd got to let their hair down and enjoy some
dancing with local Audiology-themed band the Guvna’z.
The feedback on the conference was very positive and the organising committee want to extend their thanks to everyone
who made it such a success. We look forward to seeing many of you for the 2020 BCIG annual conference, which takes
place on Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th March 2020.
Benefits of membership
Full
Members
Corporation
Members
• Access to Members area of the website
• E-learning
• Discount for BCIG Annual Conference
• Communication to Members
• Online access to Cochlear Implants International Journal
• Contribute and access to online newsletter
• Take part in surveys
• Contribute, advertise and disseminate information on the BCIG
website.
• Able to vote
• Volunteer at events
• Take part in working parties
• Tax relief
• Share experiences and expertise
• Contribute to online learning
• Influence policy, Government, NICE
• Contribute to resources and training
• Option to take part in special interest groups
• Propose and be included in research Projects
• Option to become a committee member
• Position papers
• Potential to gain support for cross-clinic research projects
VOL. 3, NO 1 WINTER 2020
4
BAA/BCIG Cochlear Implant Champions Scheme
Martin O’Driscoll
BCIG trustees are excited to say we have agreed that the BCIG will work with the BAA to promote awareness of referral for
cochlear implantation around the UK and we would like to invite your centre to participate.
We must stress that the proposed scheme is intended to complement the relationships that exist between CI centres and local
audiology services and it is not intended to replace them. It works in addition to your existing initiatives and local engagement.
The scheme is intended to create 'CI champions' within local audiology departments, and these Champions would be the key
people in a department to give their colleagues advice and support about referring for a cochlear implant. The local champion
would have a named representative or Mentor at the CI centre with whom they can liaise – this could be the CI coordinator or
another nominated member of the team. The CI Champions scheme would include a free-of-charge education programme
for audiologists and access to any resources the BAA/BCIG develop.
The scheme is entirely optional - it would be up to local audiologists whether they would like to take advantage of the training
and resources available and up to each CI centre to decide if it wanted to participate. We hope that this would be seen as an
excellent development and CPD opportunity for audiologists working in your region and that increased knowledge and liaison
at a local level will improve the quality of referrals for implantation.
The scheme itself is based on a very successful piece of work in South Manchester (by Ann-Marie Dickinson), that has
significantly increased the quality of referrals into the Manchester programme. Both Ann-Marie and I presented an outline of
the Scheme at the BAA conference in Liverpool last November and we took the opportunity to update the BAA on the latest
NICE guidelines for cochlear implantation.
The BAA has promoted the scheme to its membership and any audiologist interested in becoming a local CI Champion is
asked to complete a registration form (see next page) – please feel free to pass on to your local audiology departments. A
number of audiologists have already registered and we will be holding the first CI Champions workshop in parallel with the
second day of BCIG 2020 on Weds 11th March in Nottingham. The workshop will be led by speakers from BAA and BCIG - if
you are interested in participating then please get in touch. We would encourage the Mentor from your CI centre to attend part
of the Champions workshop to link in with any of your local departments that may be attending.
We are really hopeful that all CI centres will sign up to the scheme. It is not onerous to participate and we think that this is an
exciting opportunity to further strengthen communication and promote CI awareness. We are pleased to be collaborating with
BAA, and believe that it will help local audiologists feel that CIs are more accessible to them and to eligible patients. Many CI
centres have already contacted me to say that they are interested in taking part and offered a name for a local CI Mentor;
however, if you have not yet responded and would like to be involved then please contact me at the following email address: