Endometriosis Centres Subcommittee

Endometriosis Centres Subcommittee

Following elections and restructuring of BSGE Council in 2018, Arvind Vashisht moved from Industry Relations to become Portfolio Chair for Endometriosis Centres. He provides an update on the Endometriosis Centres and the aims for the future of the portfolio.

The Endometriosis Centres project continues to grow and gain respect. In 2018, the BSGE Endometriosis Centres Scientific Advisory Group published ground-breaking research in BMJ Open. Laparoscopic excision of deep rectovaginal endometriosis in BSGE endometriosis centres: a multicentre prospective cohort study, wasthe largest study of its kind in the world. Using data from the Endometriosis Centres, the study looked at nearly 5000 patients who had surgery for severe endometriosis, performed by more than 100 different surgeons in 51 different hospitals. Dominic Byrne, past BSGE President, said:

“The BSGE has worked for over a decade to establish and accredit a network of specialist Endometriosis Centres, so patients with severe endometriosis can have access to specialist laparoscopic surgery. This paper is the culmination of this enormous effort and reports the outcome of nearly 5,000 patients. It is a landmark moment.”

Emma Cox, Chief Executive of Endometriosis UK welcomed the research saying it

Clearly shows the necessity and positive effects of laparoscopic excisional surgery for women with rectovaginal endometriosis. This is proof that – done by experts in specialist centres – surgery can reduce pain and severe symptoms, enabling women to stay in work as well as improving their quality of life.’

NICE published a guideline on endometriosis in 2017. BSGE Endometriosis Centres were recognised within this. They are seen as an opportunity to deliver a specialist service nationally which should prove to be beneficial to patients and more cost effective.

Future challenges

In the future, one of the challenges will be to decide how far or how wide the scope of the Endometriosis Centres should be. There has been a great deal of international interest in developing centres. We need to understand how broad we can make the project and continue to ensure that centres are appropriately accredited.

Following successful publication, we look forward to continuing to use the database as a source of information and research output. However, data protection is a further challenge for the portfolio, accordingly we have made a decision to make all patient data anonymous.

Exemplar Videos

Exemplar videos were introduced in 2016 and have now been embedded in accreditation. The accreditation process is evolving and a minimum of 10 hours per week became mandatory for centre accreditation in 2018. Exemplar videos need to be completed by the end of December and will be assessed in January 2019.

I look forward to updating you on the progress of the Centres both on the website and in a future edition of The Scope, please get in touch if you have any comments or suggestions for the portfolio.

Meet The Committee Members

Arvind Vashisht

Arvind Vashisht

Vice President

For me, the BSGE stands out amongst fellow national societies in its inclusiveness, forward thinking and its effectiveness to responsibly drive through key issues such as training programmes, setting standards and national governance.

I was lucky enough to have been the Chair of the Organising Committee for the 2015 BSGE Silver Jubilee meeting. In this role I gained considerable understanding and experience of the working of the society, its profile, role, projects and administration.

I had ample opportunity to work with members of Council as well as a significant number of members nationwide spanning nurses, junior and seniors who worked collaboratively with me to make the meeting the biggest and most profitable annual scientific meeting yet.

Having whet my appetite, I am keen to serve the society in a productive fashion and I want to help ensure that it continues in its direction:

  • to reach out to all gynaecology endoscopy subspecialties
  • to recognise and represent multi-disciplinary team members
  • to appeal, encourage and facilitate education for trainees.

To this end I am already involved in BSGE anatomy and surgical training workshops, and it would be a pleasure to assume greater responsibility with Council.