The Liverpool Society of Anaesthetists
Constitution
(Adopted 1930, Amended 2007, 2016, 2019 & 2025)
The SOCIETY shall be called the Liverpool Society of Anaesthetists.
1. Objects
The objects of the Society shall be to promote education, research and the advancement of knowledge for medical and veterinary anaesthetists in Merseyside and its environs.
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Arrange lectures on developing aspects of Anaesthesia, including Intensive Care Medicine, Pain Medicine, and any related topics.
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Provide a forum for members and other invited lecturers to discuss their work in the science and practice of Anaesthesia and disseminate the useful results thereof.
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Award prizes to encourage anaesthetists in training and specialty doctors to conduct Research (and Quality Improvement) in the field of Anaesthesia. This includes the trainees’ prize and the John Utting travelling scholarship.
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Provide a leadership fellow role for a post fellowship trainee for a period of 24 months, by application and interview.
2. Trustees and Officers
The Trustees shall be the officers of the charity: president, immediate past president, treasurer, secretary and one rotational life vice president (3 year tenure).
The officers of the charity will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the charity including decisions regarding organisation of educational events, awarding of scholarships and appointment of the leadership fellow.
The officers will report regularly to the Committee, will communicate with membership via meetings and member correspondence and will present a report at the AGM.
3. Membership
All anaesthetists, veterinary anaesthetists and physician associates in anaesthesia, who hold or have held a substantive appointment in Merseyside, North Wales and its environs shall be eligible for Ordinary Membership of the society. All anaesthetists in training shall by default have free membership. Application for membership of the society can be made by email to the honorary treasurer.
Honorary Members shall be elected (for life) from distinguished persons upon whom the Society desires to confer recognition for activities such as extensive contributions to anaesthetic research, national roles within the Royal Colleges or Association of Anaesthetists, or national roles leading to changes in the NHS. These Honorary Members shall have, either as anaesthetists or in other spheres, contributed in exceptional degree to the advancement of anaesthesia.
Honorary members will be exempt from annual fees, however, they would be expected to pay a registration fee to attend LSA CPD events.
A membership list/spreadsheet will be maintained by the Honorary Secretary /Treasurer. Membership can be terminated through a majority decision of the committee. The member has a right of appeal to the committee.
4. Subscriptions
The Annual Subscription shall be determined from time to time by the Committee and approved by a majority vote at the Annual General Meeting.
5. Committee
(i) The policy and general management of the Society shall be controlled by a Committee.
(ii) This Committee shall consist of a President, the Immediate Past-President and President-Elect, an Honorary Treasurer, Honorary Secretary, an LSA Leadership Fellow and eight Ordinary Members, of which, ideally at least one member would represent academic anaesthesia, one member would be from the regional training body and one member would be an anaesthetist in training.
The role of committee members is to contribute to general meetings, in particular for development of the academic programme, promotion of membership of the society, encouraging attendance at meetings and participating in decision making regarding strategies for the society.
The committee shall have the power to co-opt additional members.
The President shall hold office for two years.
The roles of honorary secretary and treasurer will for a term of 5 years, renewable annually after the first term by mutual agreement. At the end of the 4th year, re-appointment or demission could be decided to be enacted a year ahead. This would allow 1 year for recruitment and could enable a period of shadowing.
All other Members of the Committee shall be approved to continue in their position annually. For a term of four years at which point they shall retire and not be eligible for re-election as an Ordinary Member for one year.
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On the recommendation of the Committee, the Society may, at a General Meeting, elect any member who has given long and distinguished service to the Society to serve on the Committee as a Vice-President (VP) for Life. This is a working role and VPs are expected to bring knowledge, experience and corporate memory to advise and support the president and the committee. The term of office is for life, however a VP may resign when they feel they are no longer able to contribute to the committee as a working member. The number of VPs should not exceed the working executive of 5 (president, president elect, immediate past president, treasurer and secretary).
(iii) Nominations - At a Committee meeting held before the Annual General Meeting, nominations of Officers and Ordinary Members of the Committee for the ensuing year shall be made by a majority vote of the Committee. With the consent of the nominees, these nominations shall be notified to all members of the Society at least twenty-eight days before the date of the Annual General Meeting. Any member of the Society may submit alternative nomination(s) in writing and accompanied by evidence of agreement of the nominee(s) to the Honorary Secretary at least fourteen days before the date of the Annual General Meeting. In the event of alternative nominations being received, a secret ballot shall be conducted at the Annual General Meeting, otherwise those persons nominated by the Committee shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting.
(iv) Any casual vacancies shall be filled by the Committee.
6. The Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting shall be convened each year in the Spring, for the purpose of receiving the Annual Report of the Society, the statement of Accounts (audited if reaching threshold for this requirement), to elect Officers and Members of the Committee and to vote on any amendment of policy that should be deemed necessary by the Committee.
7. Special General Meeting
The President of the Society may, at any time or within twenty-one days of the receipt of a written statement from at least twenty members of the Society, call a Special General Meeting for the purpose of altering the Constitution or of considering any other matter which may arise.
8. Rules of Procedure
(i) Voting: Questions arising at any meeting shall be decided by a simple majority of those present and entitled to vote. In the event of an equality of votes the President, as Chairman, shall have the casting vote.
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(ii) Quorum: One-third of the members shall form a quorum at all meetings of the Committee. At General Meetings of the Society twenty-five or one-third of the members, whichever is the less, shall constitute a quorum.
(iii) Minutes: Minutes shall be kept by the Honorary Secretary with a record of all proceedings and resolutions from committee and general meetings being held on a secure file.
9. Finance
(i) All monies raised by or on behalf of the Society shall be applied to further the objects of the Society and for no other purpose.
(ii) The Honorary Treasurer shall keep proper account of the Finance of the Society and shall open/ maintain a bank account in the name of the Society to which the Honorary Treasurer, Honorary Secretary have access.
(iii) The Accounts shall be independently examined by an accountant or independent person once per year if the income reaches the threshold requiring this by the charities commission. (See charity’s commission website).
10. Dissolution
If at any Annual General Meeting a resolution for the dissolution of the Society on the grounds of expense or otherwise, shall be passed by a majority of the members present and the same resolution be confirmed at a Special General Meeting held not less than one calendar month and not more than two calendar months thereafter by a two-thirds majority of the voting members thereon, the Committee shall thereupon proceed to realise the assets of the Society and, after discharge of all liabilities, shall transfer the same to the Liverpool Medical Institution for the continuation of medical education.
11. Alterations to the Constitution
Any proposal to alter the Constitution must be delivered in writing to the Honorary Secretary of the Society not less than twenty-eight days before the date of the meeting at which it could first be considered. Any alteration will require a two-thirds majority of the voting members present at a General Meeting, notice of which must be given at least fourteen days before the meeting. The notice must include the wording of the proposed alteration. No amendment shall be made that would cause the Society to cease to be a Charity at Law.
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This document was adopted as the Constitution of the Liverpool Society of Anaesthetists at the Annual General Meeting held at the Liverpool Medical Institution on 15/05/2025.
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Signed:
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Dr Nicole Robin Dr Chris Brearton
President Honorary Secretary