This newsletter is England focused because it deals with the performance metrics debate. I hope it will still be of interest to those of you in the devolved nations struggling with many of the same issues. I last wrote to you specifically about the Clinical Review of Standards when the Read more…
May 2021 – Many of you will have heard me say we are the safety net of the patient but cannot be the safety net of the system. There has been general agreement with this sentiment but what does it mean in the current environment peri-pandemic? How much of a safety net are we and where and how was the system failing such that we do clinical (and non-clinical) care that should be managed elsewhere?
December 2020 – Will we have a safer more responsive emergency care system when we come out the other side of Covid? I have to believe we can, but it needs us to keep pushing. It is entirely possible that we will be in a third wave before the much-anticipated vaccine has any significant impact on our ability to deliver healthcare and as every week goes by the challenges for the health service increases.
November 2020 – The Royal College of Emergency Medicine is the professional voice of Emergency Medicine. As such our core role is in promoting and influencing the shape of the standards and systems that EM clinicians’ practice to and in. When you read this, I will have been President for a year.
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.