The 20th Annual BARS Conference

24th - 25th September 2020

Crowne Plaza Hotel, Newcastle upon Tyne (Wey Aye Man!)

ANNOUNCEMENT

Due to the uncertainty of the present covid-19 pandemic, the BARS Conference is cancelled.The conference will be moved to next year at the same venue and will be held on the 23rd/24th September, 2021. Delegates will be contacted in due course and offered a refund or for their booking to be carried over to next year.

Howay Man, BARS Council are pleased to announce that the 2020 BARS Conference will be held in the vibrant and canny city of Newcastle upon Tyne (Geordieland), at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, approx 5-7 min walk from Newcastle Central Railway Station (Click here for map).  Access is also available via Newcastle International Airport.  The Tyne & Wear Metro service is available between the airport and Central Station.  Please click here for full details of the metro getting to and from the airport. 

The BARS 2020 Conference Programme is still in the planning stages and will be available shortly.

Registration opens at 10:00 hrs on 24 September with tea/coffee followed by lunch at 12:00 hrs. The Conference commences with the Chairman's welcome at 13:00 hrs and day one will finish at 17:00 hrs

The Programme Management Meeting will take place from 10:30 to 12 pm on Thursday 24 September.  This is only for delegates attending the main meeting.  Registration for this meeting is required.  Full details available shortly.

Workshops: Following the success of the Slit Lamp Workshops, the popular 3 Taster Workshops relating to Surveillance and the OCT workshops from previous years, BARS are delighted to announce that they will be holding Workshops at this year's conference.  This year BARS Council will be holding Slit Lamp and OCT workshops, kindly sponsored by Haag-Streit and Heidelberg respectively, which will benefit screener/graders looking to expand their educational knowledge with hands-on sessions.  Registration for these workshops is required via the conference link on the BARS conferences page by clicking link below.  There will be 2 sessions running from 10 am - 11 am and 11 am - 12 noon. The cost of these workshops are £15 pp.  There are 21 places available per session.

A drinks reception is planned from 19:00 hrs with the Gala Dinner at 20:00 hrs.  Entertainment to follow thereafter.

Day two will commence at 09:00 hrs and Conference will end at 13:15 hrs.

CPD Points will be awarded with the Royal College of Ophthalmologists Education Department for full attendance.  These will be beneficial for any ophthalmologists attending. Details to follow.

Registration for the 2020 BARS Conference in Newcastle is now open!

Booking is online via our dedicated Eventbrite page. All major credit and debit cards are accepted, or choose ‘Show other payment options' to pay by cheque or request an invoice.  Please use link below:

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE REGISTRATION PAGE

BARS Council have worked hard to keep the conference registration costs down this year, and are pleased to announce a price of just £125 for delegates staying in the hotel on the 24hr rate, and for non-residents, £80 for day delegate rate for the Thursday and £60 for day delegate rate for the Friday.  For those not on the 24hr rate who wish to attend the Drinks Reception and Gala Dinner. this is priced at £50.00.

Accommodation must be booked and paid for separately. The conference will take place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Hawthorn Square, Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3SA and BARS has reserved 140 rooms at a special discounted rate of £220 for the 24-hour single occupancy package and £310 for twin occupancy. These prices include lunch and the evening gala dinner on the Thursday, plus breakfast on the Friday.

To book the hotel please see below:

The hotel is experiencing issues with their online booking code for the Crowne Plaza, Newcastle. The hotel is looking in to this and apologise for the problems this is causing.  BARS have been informed that delegates in the interim can call or email the reservations team as below:

Tel: 0191 5623333 option 2 and use booking code C45

Email: reservations@cpnewcastlehotel.co.uk and use booking code C45

Bookings must be made by Friday 28 August 2020

Registration Enquiries – Alison Simpson -  barsevents@eyescreening.org.uk

Tel 01382 632713 or Fax on 01382 632893

Invoice Requests to be made directly to Alison Simpson

2020 BARS/Topcon (GB) Medical Ltd Call for Papers and Posters - CANCELLED

Submissions are now invited for the 2020 BARS Conference in Newcastle. If you would like to present a paper (10-15 minute presentation) or a poster (A0 portrait) at our annual conference, please fill in the application form from the Resources section of the website below and return it to us via post or email by 31^st July 2020.

This year we are offering an Amazon Voucher for the best poster of £300 presented at conference plus a runner-up prize of £200, courtesy of Topcon (GB) Medical Limited.  Paper submissions will be considered for publication in the Diabetic Eye Journal.

2020 BARS/NPS/Optos Call for Case Studies - Bursary Offer - CANCELLED

BARS Council are pleased to announce that the call for case studies is now open.  This year we have taken a different approach and following on from the success of the previous 2 conferences in offering 2 free bursary places, BARS Council are delighted to announce that we can offer 2 free places at this year's conference in Newcastle, kindly sponsored by Northgate Public Services and Optos.  

This year we are offering:

• Free registration for the conference
• Overnight accommodation for the Thursday night + breakfast on the Friday morning
• Ticket for the evening gala dinner
• Standard travel expenses to and from the conference

In order to take advantage of a bursary place, you are required to produce a 4 minute video PowerPoint presentation case study which will be presented at the conference (The winners don't have to stand up and present their case study).  The case study can be on any subject as long as it is related to diabetic eye screening, for example; an audit or an interesting patient.  We have provided full details on how to make a video using PowerPoint and that is available in the Resources section of the website below titled 'Video PowerPoint Instructions'.  The closing date for submissions is 31st May.  There is also a separate entry form for case studies available in the Resources section which must be enclosed with the video.

The 2020 BARS/Sense Medical Ltd Photography Competition - CANCELLED

Entry is now open for the 2020 BARS Photography competition, kindly sponsored by Sense Medical Ltd.  Once again there are two categories - clinical and artistic - and two prizes of an Apple Store Voucher (375) for each category up for grabs!  The competition is following the same format as last year.  Entry is FREE, and all images will be printed in to the BARS conference brochure.   Full details of the competition and the entry form can be found in the Resources section of the website by scrolling down the page.  The Resources section is available on any page.  The closing date for entries is July 31st.