Name and objectives
The Society shall be called "The Scottish Paediatric Society" (SPS) and its objectives shall be the advancement of academic, scientific and clinical knowledge of Child Health and Paediatrics and the promotion of friendship and professional relationships among paediatricians in Scotland.
Membership
It shall consist of ordinary and senior members.
Ordinary membership of the Scottish Paediatric Society is available to the following groups:
- Paediatricians working in Scotland or with an affiliation to Paediatrics in Scotland
- Trainee Paediatricians working in Scotland or with an affiliation to Paediatrics in Scotland
- Medical Students in Scotland, or with an affiliation to Scotland, who are considering Paediatrics as a career
- Professionals of other health disciplines who have demonstrated a commitment to furthering Child Health in Scotland.
Candidates for ordinary membership must be proposed and seconded by two members of the Society. The consent of the candidate must be obtained. Nominations for membership must be made using the electronic nomination form available on the Society’s website (www.rcpch.ac.uk/sps) and must reach the secretary at least one calendar month before the date of the annual general meeting. Thereafter, the proposals will be considered by the Executive Committee and the candidates approved will be recommended to the ordinary members of the Society for election by vote.
Senior membership
Ordinary members on retirement from clinical practice will be automatically eligible for election as senior members. Retired Paediatricians from outside Scotland with an affiliation to Paediatrics in Scotland will also be eligible for membership, but in the absence of preceding ordinary membership will require nomination as in section 4 above.
Continuation of membership
Members who wish to resign should notify the secretary. In the unlikely event that a member’s conduct may bring the Society into disrepute, the Executive Committee, on behalf of the Society, reserves the right to terminate their membership.
Executive Committee
The business of the Society will be conducted by an Executive Committee which will consist of a President, a President-elect, an honorary Secretary/Treasurer and nine ordinary members. Representation on this committee shall be on a geographical basis and shall include: three members representing each of the academic centres (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow), three members whose work is primarily outwith the four main academic centres, one member from either an academic or non-academic centre, one representatives nominated by the Scottish Committee of the RCPCH, one representative nominated by the Scottish Association for Community Child Health (SACCH) and two representatives of the senior paediatric trainees. Election will be on a show of hands at the annual general meeting.
The president on election shall hold office for one year; the president-elect shall hold office for one year; the secretary/treasurer shall retire annually but shall be eligible for re-election for a maximum of seven years. The seven ordinary members shall hold office for four years; they shall be eligible for re-election for a further two years and thereafter shall not be eligible for re-election until after a lapse of four years. The RCPCH and SACCH representatives shall hold office for the duration of their RCPCH and SACCH tenures of office. Two ordinary members of the senior paediatric trainees shall be invited after due consultation to serve on the committee for a maximum of two years. Should other vacancies arise on the committee, members shall be elected at the next annual general meeting. No candidate may be elected to these offices unless their name, duly proposed and seconded, has been sent to the secretary at least one calendar month before the annual general meeting.
The secretary/treasurer shall receive subscriptions, pay all bills and present the accounts yearly to the Executive Committee and to the annual general meeting. He/she shall also be responsible for calling all meetings and shall keep brief minutes of the proceedings. He/she shall send to each member, not less than one week before the annual general meeting, a list of candidates for the various offices, and agenda papers as may be required.
Given the wide responsibilities of the secretary/treasurer, where practicable, their successor may be co-opted onto the Executive Committee in a shadowing role for a period before they take up their formal role.
Subscriptions
Ordinary members are liable to pay an annual subscription in order to maintain membership, the amount payable shall be decided from time to time at the annual general meeting by a simple majority of the ordinary members present voting on a recommendation from the Executive Committee, notice of which shall have been given not less than one calendar month beforehand. The subscription shall be paid annually by a banker’s standing order.
Ordinary members who fail to pay their annual subscription for two consecutive years shall be contacted by the treasurer to clarify their wish to maintain membership. In the absence of reasonable circumstances, ordinary members who fail to pay their annual subscription for three consecutive years shall cease to be members of the Society.
Meetings
Meetings will be held twice yearly. The winter meeting will be held in Edinburgh and Glasgow on alternate years. The summer meetings will be hosted in Aberdeen or Dundee respectively every four years; and the opportunity to host the summer meeting will be available to other centres as may be decided by the Executive Committee.
In winter meeting will be known as the St Andrew’s Day Symposium, and is hosted in partnership with SACCH, RCPCH, and Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.
The Annual General Meeting is only open to members and will be held at the winter meeting when:
- Office-bearers and members of the committee will be elected
- New ordinary and senior membership will be confirmed
- Accounts will be presented
- Places of meeting for the ensuing year will be decided
- Any other business may be brought up.
The Annual General Meeting shall be preceded by a meeting of the Executive Committee.
The AGM will be quorate if 25 ordinary members are present.
The constitution of the Society can be altered only at the annual general meeting after notice has been given in writing to the secretary at least six weeks previously, and only if two-thirds of the ordinary members present are in favour of the alteration.
The scientific and educational meeting will ordinarily take the form of oral and written (poster) communications, although the format may be altered at the discretion of the Executive Committee in special circumstances. In additional guest speakers will be invited to speak on appropriate topics, as determined by the Executive Committee.
In advance of each meeting, the secretary will announce the meeting using digital and other media, including a call for papers. Applicants who wish to present and discuss their work will be invited to submit a short summary (not exceeding 200 words) of the main points of his/her paper for consideration for inclusion. Such abstracts will be independently considered and scored by members of the Executive Committee, and the collated scores will determine the selection for presentation in oral or poster form. Oral presentations will be limited to a total of 15 minutes.
The abstracts of successful papers will be included in the meeting brochure and subsequently published in the Scottish Medical Journal.