Like any organisation, it’s really valuable for the Society to reflect occasionally on its priorities for the next few years. Our Society exists to bring together and support the UK endocrinology community and to ensure that our discipline remains vibrant.

We need a strategy to inform us how best to achieve that.

WHY IS STRATEGY IMPORTANT?

Having clear strategic goals helps us to make our vision a reality. Taking into account the current environment outside the Society and the present challenges experienced by our community is really important.

A good strategy does not have to be complicated. It should be a straightforward and effective framework that allows an organisation to decide which activities to concentrate on in a given timeframe.

Our strategy should be a helpful tool that is regularly reviewed and ensures that every element of the Society is working towards the same aims, so that our resources can be deployed most effectively.

WHY NOW?

It is a really good time for the Society for Endocrinology to be setting a new strategy for two principal reasons:

1. We are emerging from a global pandemic, which has changed the way organisations and individuals work, meaning our members are facing different challenges with different expectations from the Society.

2. There are challenges facing the Society’s trading subsidiary, Bioscientifica, which mean the Society’s main revenue stream will be reduced over the next few years.

Financial stability, operational efficiency and robust governance underpin the success of the Society, whatever its strategic priorities.

With these in mind we know we must:

• diversify and develop our revenue streams
• improve our membership system and processes
• continue to implement recommendations from our governance review 2020/21.

WHO SETS THE STRATEGY?

The Trustee–Directors of the Society, who sit on Council, are collectively responsible for setting and monitoring Society strategy, with support and advice from the office team, led by the Chief Executive.

An in-person strategy day for Council took place in Birmingham on 1 February 2023. The Society used two independent facilitators to advise on and run the event. The day included the Trustee–Directors and the Chairs of all of our committees, who are non-voting, ex-officio members of Council.

Following the strategy day, Council has further debated and refined the strategic goals and objectives to produce a draft strategy for member consultation. You can read this here.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR VIEWS!

We have asked for constructive feedback on this strategy from all our members across the breadth of our specialty. If you haven’t yet been able to respond, please email your comments and suggestions as soon as you can, and no later than 29 June, to [email protected].

MÁRTA KORBONITS, President
IAN RUSSELL, Chief Executive

 

Our vision

A world where the importance of endocrinology is recognised, and the understanding of hormones and their actions is improved and applied, so that people live longer, healthier and happier lives.

Our mission

To promote and advance the understanding of endocrinology, bringing together the UK endocrine community to share ideas and advance our discipline.

GOAL 1: FOSTER A COLLABORATIVE, INCLUSIVE AND FRIENDLY ENDOCRINOLOGY COMMUNITY

...providing a welcoming home for the endocrine community to increase skills, develop ideas and share best practice, as individuals advance through their scientific and clinical careers.

WE WILL DO THIS BY:

• providing opportunities for knowledge sharing, learning and development to all members throughout their careers

• ensuring that the UK contributes to, and benefits from, the international endocrine community

• ensuring that equality, diversity and inclusion principles and practices run through all of the Society’s activities.

GOAL 2: FACILITATE THE ADVANCEMENT OF ENDOCRINE SCIENCE

…bringing researchers together, supporting their development, and providing platforms for knowledge dissemination and discussion, to generate new knowledge that translates to better patient care.

WE WILL DO THIS BY:

• supporting high quality ‘bench to bedside’ and ‘bedside to bench’ research, by fostering networking, collaboration and training

• enabling dissemination of knowledge across endocrine science and medicine

• encouraging scientists and healthcare professionals to carry out research.

GOAL 3: IMPROVE AND SUPPORT THE EQUITABLE DELIVERY OF EXCELLENT ENDOCRINE PATIENT CARE

…supporting the training of healthcare professionals and sharing best clinical practice.

WE WILL DO THIS BY:

• facilitating the generation, sharing and adoption of excellent clinical practice among the endocrine community

• supporting high quality training in endocrinology that meets evolving clinical needs of our members

• promoting patient involvement in their own care and understanding of treatments, through working with patient support groups

• raising the profile of endocrinology and diabetes as an attractive career choice for clinicians, nurses and associated professionals.

GOAL 4: BE AN ACCURATE, TRUSTWORTHY VOICE ON HORMONES

…by delivering expert scientific and clinical information and by equipping our members with the skills to tackle misinformation and promote good science.

WE WILL DO THIS BY:

• delivering expert, evidence-based information on endocrine-related public policy issues to policymakers

• delivering expert, trustworthy information on endocrine subjects to non-experts to tackle misinformation

• providing information and resources to support teachers of endocrinology at schools, colleges and higher education institutions.