President’s Introduction

Dear Members,

It is a great honour to be elected the 9th President of this Association. The ALSGBI is an Association that has steadily grown in membership and stature since its formation 18 years ago– it wasn’t long ago that the annual conference could be accommodated in the facilities of a District General Hospital and we are now in a position to have to consider our venues carefully far in advance in order that we can achieve, for example, what we have recently achieved in Cardiff in November. Cardiff, on the basis of several parameters was our most successful conference to date.

It can be easy to think that in an era when laparoscopy forms a significant part of the interest of many sub specialty associations that the ALS may have a diminishing role and value but I genuinely believe that nothing could be further from truth. The ALS has become almost unique, firstly in the format of its annual conference with its dedication to live surgery and secondly with its multi-speciality involvement, which promotes the dissemination of techniques between groups we may otherwise rarely see. Over the years the ALS conferences have featured urology, gynaecology, bariatrics, paediatrics, vascular and endocrine surgery as well as the core abdominal GI specialities. In addition we have striven to keep bang up to date with technological advances as they have come along, whether they have matured or not - robotics, natural orifice surgery, single port surgery, and now 3D. And through our mutual interest in technology and innovation we are able to maintain a very healthy relationship with our industry partners, which is so important to us.

It is increasingly difficult for each successive incoming President to make a list of things that they hope to achieve. For my part I simply want to leave it bigger, better and more popular than it is now and with a greater voice and influence over training and teaching of laparoscopic surgery in the UK.

Professor Tim Rockall
President, ALSGBI