August 2019 – The social care crisis continues placing burdens on hospitals and bringing distress to vulnerable patients. This is evident is a number of ways, one of which is that too many people with dementia are not receiving the support that is appropriate to their needs, they end up in very busy Accident and Emergency Departments.
August 2019 – In an open letter President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Taj Hassan, welcomes new trainees to the specialty.
April 2019 – April has brought Spring and the ‘winds of change’. It was a great pleasure to be able to announce last month that Dr Katherine Henderson will be the next RCEM President. I have known Katherine for well over 20 years and have absolutely no doubt that she will do an absolutely fantastic job for us when she starts in October.
January 2019 – Happy New Year! There is no doubt that 2019 promises another year of challenge and also opportunity. I want to spend my last 10 Presblogs (!) describing some of the excellent work that has been done by the College as we aspire to support training and advise on care delivery in emergency care in one of the toughest environments in healthcare.
November 2018 – Welcome to November. Another month of activity at RCEM as we push ahead on a number of fronts within the College. You will know that we continue to drive hard on the policy front and the RCEM Vision 2020 which is now entering its third year is showing steady progress in all domains.
October 2018 – Networking, friendships and fantastic achievements! Those are just some of the recurring themes that emerged for me at the joint EuSEM & RCEM Conference. It was undoubtedly one of the absolute highlights of the year and those who attended were met with incredible Glaswegian hospitality and superb organization by the RCEM Events and EuSEM team. Many thanks to the local organizing committee too.
Sept 2018 – Welcome to this month’s RCEM news – schools are back, the blaze of the summer is over (or perhaps an Indian summer ahead) and of course Emergency Departments are girding themselves for what is likely to be an incredibly tough autumn/winter period. We also have a new Secretary of State for Health in England, Matt Hancock, as well Jeane Freeman in Scotland. We will be progressing on a range of work to influence and collaborate with their new teams.
August 2018 – August – a month to welcome new doctors into the ED freshly minted from their first Foundation year’s experiences from the wards. A chance to allow them to explore the excitement of Emergency Medicine, the diagnostic challenge of the undifferentiated patient, the variety of presentations and of course the unique team work that is TeamED.
July 2018 – Greetings from the height of a July summer in Yorkshire (!). Wimbledon and strawberries have been supplemented and indeed complemented by the joys of the football World Cup, no doubt of interest to some at least depending upon your team. If previous World Cups are anything to go by, the periods during the key games will be very quiet in EDs around the country, though perhaps not afterwards.
June 2018 – At every level in EM our job is to somehow influence and guide, inside or outside the clinical arena. At some levels that can be incredibly challenging.