Dec 2015 – We had a ball! Hot off the press as I write, the Inaugural Dinner of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine held last night was undoubtedly the highlight of the year. Two hundred and fifty guests, VIPs, alumni, giants of the specialty, front line clinicians from all countries of the U.K. and Ireland with our patron Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal – it was quite an evening.
Nov 2015 – Although you are reading this in November, as I write I have just returned from the RCEM Annual Scientific Conference in Manchester. It was quite an event! Our largest ever conference with more than 750 delegates, it showcased world-class speakers and the value, benefit and outcomes of emergency medicine research.
Oct 2015. My last newsletter spoke of the pressing issue of how terms and conditions are central to maintaining and increasing the current EM workforce. At the time of writing (August 30th) I am preparing for my next meeting with the Secretary of State and shortly after the Prime Minister’s Special Advisor.
Sept 2015 – Before I begin writing each newsletter I read the previous one to minimise repetition and hopefully ensure I cover new ground, thereby maintaining the readers attention. I was struck on this occasion by how prescient were the remarks of the August newsletter. As ever the newsletter was scripted almost two months ahead of publication to meet various manuscript deadlines.
August 2015 – August, and for some the prospect of a well deserved holiday; whilst for others the sense of déjà vu, as we explain the bones of the carpus, ‘reveal’ the secret of good medicine is in taking the history and pointing out that the discovery of CRP is not on a par with the discovery of penicillin!
July 2015 – July, and the prospect, for most, of some well deserved R&R, accompanied by the new intake of foundation doctors, core and higher trainees.
June 2015 – Writing in the middle of a General Election campaign reminds me of the words of Nils Bohr ‘Prediction is very difficult – especially if it’s about the future’
May 2015 – As we move into May I suspect that many readers will have grown tired of campaigns. As we await the result of the forthcoming General Election in the UK, it seems prudent and indeed even refreshing to set aside issues of policy, disagreements and matters of contention.
March 2015 – February 4th 2015 will be one of the few dates I will be able to recall in later life. A telephone call at 11am followed by a letter stating:
Feb 2015 – Those of you who suffer to read my regular ‘copy’ as the publishers refer to it, will be used to the format of updates of College activity.