March 2020

Dear ESPE member,

Firstly, I’m acutely aware that medical and scientific professionals across the world are currently facing unprecedented challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I send you my very best wishes at this testing time and hope that you and your families are keeping well. I hope that you will find mutual support through colleagues, friends and other members. ESPE has produced a statement regarding Covid-19, offering guidance for members, parents and patients and this is available on our website.

As you can imagine, we have been having many discussions about ESPE 2020. To help us decide the best course of action, we established a dedicated Working Group to assess the impact the current situation will have on our Annual Meeting, due to be held in the UK this September. Sadly, the Working Group has agreed that ESPE 2020 in Liverpool is postponed until 2021 (new date to be confirmed) and the abstract deadline of 6 April is postponed. We are currently investigating all of the options to ensure that we can bring you news very shortly as to when we will be able to meet again.

We acknowledge that you may have questions about some of the arrangements that you have made to date including registration and abstract submissions. As I am sure you will appreciate, there are many things that need to be evaluated and discussed. Our team is working as quickly as possible in collaboration with the venues, hotels and other suppliers and we will update you again in due course once decisions have been made and the details worked out. Thank you for your patience and understanding at this time.

Although we also had to take the difficult decision to cancel our Winter School in Moldova, ESPE has a wealth of activities planned for the rest of 2020. We would like to ensure that members still have an opportunity to apply for these opportunities, without impacting on their current, extraordinary priorities. Although there are still some deadlines approaching in April, we are reviewing all timelines to give people maximum time to apply, while ensuring schools, grants and other activities can still be delivered by committee members who also face challenging times. Our website will be kept up to date with all the latest news and deadlines.

Finally, the ESPE Team in the UK has relocated to work from home, but continues to support ESPE and its members and committees during these difficult times. Members are able to contact them by phone and email as usual.

I wish you strength, safety and health over these coming months and send you all my very warmest wishes,

Anita
ESPE Secretary General