In October 2018 British Society of Gastroenterology Endoscopy lost a great friend and supporter of UK endoscopy when past BSG president Dr Ian Forgacs died. Ian was an inspirational president and this issue of Frontline Gastroenterology, produced to coincide with BSG Endoscopy Live 2019, is dedicated to Ian’s memory. Ian’s career spanned the development of endoscopy from the early days as a new technique to the multimodality diagnostic and therapeutic specialty that it is now. The first BSG Live Endoscopy event was held in March 2015 under Ian’s presidency and it is fitting that we remember him alongside this third event.
The papers in this edition cover many aspects of endoscopy: from original research to state-of-the-art reviews on diagnostic and therapeutic procedures; from reviews of recent guidelines to discussions around challenges facing gastroenterology in 2019 such as training, quality improvement, decontamination and the need to undertake more complex procedures under deep sedation or general anaesthesia. Ian was at the heart of many of these issues and a great deal is owed to him for his work in taking these forward.
Ian had a passion for improving patient care and was hugely supportive of the BSG Endoscopy Quality Improvement Programme which is featured in this edition of the journal. He was unfailingly encouraging of all elements of BSG including trainees, nurse and associates, and was very keen to advance the role of female gastroenterologists. Ian had a great personal interest in endoscopy and was a mentor and supporter to many leading UK endoscopists with an outstanding ability to encourage and motivate. BSG Endoscopy is in a much stronger place for Ian’s support, encouragement and leadership. This leadership has filtered down to many areas of improved endoscopy practice ensuring better patient care and many of these are reflected in the papers in this edition of Frontline Gastroenterology. Ian was an inspirational, amusing and wonderful man and those of us who had the privilege to work with him and learn from him are enriched for knowing him. His legacy is one of happy memories and of endoscopists motivated to provide better and more patient-centred care.
Footnotes
Patient consent for publication: Not required.
Contributors: All authors contributed equally to the manuscript.
Competing interests: None declared.
Provenance and peer review: Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.