News from HIS EGM held on 29 January 2010
An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the Hospital Infection Society was held on 29 January 2010 to consider several proposals that would result in amendments to the Society’s Constitution. The Constitution requires that a two-thirds majority of members present at the EGM is required to approve such amendments. During the meeting, members voted on the following proposals regarding the name of the Society and the name of its journal:
To change the name of the organization from the Hospital Infection Society to the Healthcare Infection Society.
To change the name of the Society’s journal from The Journal of Hospital Infection to The Journal of Healthcare Infection.
In excess of 2/3 members present voted in favour of changing the name of the Society to the Healthcare Infection Society. For practical reasons, the name change (and the corresponding Constitutional amendment) will be delayed until 1 April 2011, the beginning of the 2011/12 session. Until then the name remains the Hospital Infection Society.
Following a discussion of the proposed journal name change, including any possible negative effect that such a change would have on the journal’s impact factor, members present at the EGM voted against changing the name of the journal. Therefore this will remain as The Journal of Hospital Infection.
Also, during the meeting, more than two thirds of the members present voted in favour of changing the quorum required for AGMs and EGMs from “at least 20 members” to “at least 10 members, in addition to any Council members who may be present”. The Constitution will be amended to reflect this particular change once the Charity Commission has been notified.
Formal Minutes of the EGM (and of the AGM held directly prior to the EGM on 29 January 2010) will be posted on the HIS website in due course.
