• The History of the British Cardiovascular Society
  Dr A Hollman, Archivist to the British Cardiovascular Society, tells the story behind the organisation.
• BCS: Archives and Historical Collections
  The Society maintains a collection of items relating to the history of cardiology.

Rules of the British Cardiovascular Society

• Medical practitioners with a primary interest in cardiology on the consultant staff of a hospital in the UK or overseas;
• Cardiology, paediatric cardiology or cardiac surgery, or related discipline Specialist Registrars with a training number;
• Established scientists whose primary interest is cardiovascular research;
• Public Health or Primary Care physicians whose interests are primarily cardiological; or
• Any other applicant at the discretion of Council.

Extraordinary membership
Extraordinary Members are those Ordinary Members who have retired from practice or reached the age of 65 and have chosen to no longer be Ordinary Members who shall receive all notices of the Charity, but shall not be entitled to attend or vote at the annual general meeting, and are not entitled to nominate Officers or Ordinary Members for a seat on the Council.

• A primary interest in the advancement of knowledge of diseases of the heart and circulation or the practice of cardiovascular medicine/ surgery and related disciplines;
• A written constitution, a chairman or president, a council , and its officers elected democratically from its Membership;
• A list of Members;
• All official publications, guidelines and recommendations should be approved by the Council of the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS);
• An annual business meeting (AGM) with an agenda circulated to its Members at least one month in advance and from which minutes shall be recorded and made available to the Council of BCS.
• Facilities can be provided by BCS, for Affiliated Groups to hold their Council Meetings during the BCS Annual Conference. The headquarters of BCS will also generally be available for meetings of the Affiliated Groups and their subcommittees and working groups. The costs incurred (security, out-of hour's staff costs, food and beverage, etc) will be met by the Affiliated Groups. 

Annual Conference
An Annual Conference shall be held each year:  

• Non member visitors may attend and they may take part in discussions or make presentations.
• The Programme Committee shall be responsible for the organisation, management and running of the Annual Conference (AC).
• For those who are not members of BCS, there shall be a fee for attendance and for the participation by giving of research papers etc at the AC, which shall be set by the Council
• Members, Affiliated Groups and invitees may make written proposals to the Programme Committee, in accordance with a format and in the time periods set by the Programme Committee each year, as to original research papers or scientific reviews that they may wish to present at the AC.
• The Programme Committee shall develop guidelines and criteria for the standard of research papers and content of the AC each year and shall in its sole discretion decide whether proposals submitted reach the criteria or standards required, and may accept or reject any research paper at its discretion.
• Presentations made at the AC shall be spoken and not read, and all speakers shall adhere to the timetable and agenda of the AC.

Abridged version, updated July 2002