The British Peripheral Nerve Society aims to bring together physicians and scientists interested in peripheral nerve disease in Britain, in order to share information and resources, to improve the management of and research into peripheral nerve disease.
Excellent comprehensive training course on peripheral neuropathy
Spring BPNS meeting with clinical cases and invited speakers
If you are not a member, but would like to receive information regarding our meetings, please click here.
Tuesday 4 – Wednesday 5th May 2021
2021 will see our conference move online for the first time. This is a 2-day virtual clinical course on childhood and adult neuromuscular disorders covering a range of disorders including Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy (DMD) and other muscular dystrophies, spinal muscular atrophy, (SMA), neuropathies, myopathies, channelopathies and mitochondrial disorders. This year there will be a particular emphasis on transitional diseases i.e. diseases which start in childhood but need to be managed throughout life including DMD and SMA. Recent advances in therapies for these conditions will be covered.
This 2-day course is designed for paediatric and adult specialists with an interest in neuromuscular diseases. Programme to follow shortly.
BPNS face-to-face outpatient policy
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many outpatient appointments have been converted to telephone or video.
The BPNS recommends that new outpatient appointments for suspected peripheral neuropathy should generally be conducted face-to-face. A few exceptions may be individually justified, but face-to-face should be the norm. Peripheral neuropathy cannot generally be reliably assessed without examination. The referrer’s examination may not be reliable. Remote appointments risk significantly lower quality of care for the patient.
Some follow-up appointments for peripheral neuropathy should be conducted face-to-face (for example most inflammatory neuropathies). Other follow-up patients may be seen by telephone or video if appropriately triaged by the doctor running the clinic.
If COVID risk is very high (prevalence and individual patient/staff risk factors) such that a face-to-face appointment is unreasonable for a patient triaged as non-urgent then telephone or video consultations may be used, but seldom replace the need for a subsequent face-to-face consultation. Tests like EMG or MRI should not be used as a substitute for an adequate clinical assessment.
Agreed at BPNS AGM, 6 November 2020, amended 16 January 2021
The BPNS sees no reason for any patient with any peripheral nerve disease to avoid having any of the COVID-19 vaccines. A commentary on the topic my Mike Lunn can be found HERE. An information sheet giving the Societys official view for concerned patients is HERE.
BPNS members have contributed to an important study led by Stephen Keddie and Mike Lunn showing no association between COVID-19 and GBS. <Link>
If you are not yet a member, you can apply here