To all ECT nurses working in Northern Ireland, a regional ECT Special Interest Group has been set up. Like the group in Wales, it is a multidisciplinary group. Eilish Boyle, nurse education consultant, from Knockbracken Healthcare Park reports, “To date we have held 2 multiprofessional meetings. There are representatives from all 5 Trusts in Northern Ireland.” Eilish is the current chair of the group. For further information and to join this group, contact Eilish at eilish.boyle@beeches.hscni.net

Another member of the Northern Ireland Group, Catherine Brennan, also recently commenced attending the NALNECT committee meetings, representing their group. NALNECT will continue to support their colleagues in Northern Ireland.

NICE has announced that on 28th October 2009, it will publish its update on its Depression guidelines. Note, ECT guidelines are incorporated into these guidelines.

Due to ever increasing membership numbers and distance to travel, members of the South of England ECT nurse group have decided to divide into two groups. The South West England group and the South East England group. Each group now has the capacity to accept new membership. Contact details for your nearest group are on the ECT Nurse Special Interest Groups page of this website.

NICE is currently in the process of updating its guidelines on the treatment of depression in adults. These guidelines incorporate the guidance on prescribing ECT. Therefore, these will also be updated. However, as there have been only few published research trials on ECT since the initial guidelines, it is expected that any changes will only be minor.

The Dantec Dynamics price for the Thymatron will be increasing after 31st of March 2009 to £14,500 plus vat and from 1/1/09 the price for Ectobrain II will be £1,322 plus vat. They currently have 2 Ectobrain II units at the old price of £850 plus vat. So first come first served. So, the price for Thymatron IV will be held at £13,060 plus vat until the end of March and no further. The combination of a price increase from the manufacturer and the exchange rate has meant they have had to increase the price for the first time in 2 years. They also have an Exdemonstration system for sale at a 20% discount on the £13,060 plus vat price. (£10448 plus vat).