Giving the NHS the tools it needs to act on the climate emergency

Whilst we are all in the middle of coping with the Emergency care crisis there is unfortunately also a need to address the climate emergency and the healthcare problems it will bring. At RCEM work is underway to find out how to make the practice of Emergency Medicine environmentally sustainable whilst maintaining standards, in a way that will also address some of the causes of the care crisis we are currently facing. NHS England is a world leader in healthcare system sustainability with the creation and work of the Greener NHS.  It has set a target for NHS England to Read more…

By RCEM Comms, ago

Why all trainees should have their say in the annual EMTA survey

The 2021 iteration of the EMTA survey launched at the virtual trainee conference on 24 November and all trainees should now have received a link to the survey in their inboxes. Initial interest and uptake have been good and at the time of writing, we are making good progress towards our ambition of 1000 trainees completing the survey. An excellent response rate – something that is increasingly difficult to achieve with the survey fatigue we all feel – is vital to making the data as impactful as possible. For me, there are two main ways to make sound and convincing Read more…

By RCEM Comms, ago

#ECACP Day 2021

We know how crucial ACPs are to Emergency Medicine, and we want to others to know it too which is why we want to celebrate you on Advanced Clinical Practitioner Day. As part of Advanced Practice Week 2021, on 12 November we’re sharing your thoughts on Advanced Practice, looking at who you are and what you do and highlighting the important role ACPs have in transforming service delivery and patient care. Below are some of the thoughts and reflections you’ve sent us, along with videos teams from across the UK have sent in. Tell us your thoughts on Advanced Clinical Read more…

By RCEM Comms, ago

RCEM CARES: What have we achieved?

In March 2020, just weeks before the first national lockdown, we launched our flagship RCEM CARES campaign. The campaign focused on addressing the mismatch between demand and capacity in the Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) system by tackling Crowding, Access, Retention, Experience, and Safety.   Although the CARES campaign was not developed with the pandemic in mind – many of our recommendations were brought into sharp focus during the pandemic, particularly during the second wave. In September 2020, we updated the campaign to take into account the health policy challenges – such as PPE, testing infrastructure, IPC measures – that Read more…

By RCEM Comms, ago

Black History Month: Eddie’s Story

Tell us about yourself and your background? My name is Edward Oforka and I was born in Nigeria. When it comes to identity, Nigerian, Black and Christian are how I strongly identify. I am one of six children born to working class parents and was one of the first in my family to go to university. I couldn’t have imagined it, but with amazing stroke of luck and encouragement from everybody around me at the time, I went off to medical school. I ended up doing quite well and winning a number of awards. During my National Youth Service working Read more…

By RCEM Comms, ago

World Mental Health Day and Emergency Medicine

October 10th is World Mental Health Day Have you ever wondered if we sometimes make things worse for patient with mental health problems coming to the ED? Stigma in the general hospital setting is reported by patients to result in devaluation, social control, avoidance, rejection and failure to act. Perry et al. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32388323/ Careless talk adds to poor attitudes and lack of understanding in our team – “It must be a new moon”, “not again” etc. Our patients tell us they pick up on this, it may even prevent them coming for help. What can we do to reduce this? Read more…

By RCEM Comms, ago

What’s behind the increase in demand in Emergency Departments?

This analysis is the first instalment of RCEM’s acute insight series. The series aims to use data and evidence to analyse and explain trends in Emergency Department activity. If you have any questions, please get in touch with policy@rcem.ac.uk Levels of Emergency Department (ED) attendances and subsequent admissions are not only reaching pre-pandemic levels but surpassing them. In June 2021, attendances to Type 1 EDs were the highest on record whilst admissions were the second highest since the start of the pandemic. Alongside this increase in demand, covid-19 hospitalisations remain fairly low which raises the question – why are we Read more…

By RCEM Comms, ago

CEO Update – What’s Going On At The College?

Over the past year, whilst the specialty has been at the frontline of the covid-19 pandemic, the College has worked very hard to support you all. Much of the wider press has been interested in asking questions about our national preparedness and responsiveness and so I have I been asking the same questions of us here at the College. The College went into the pandemic with all staff commuting into central London and office working being the norm.  We did have Crisis Management Procedures worked up in happier times but untested.  March 2020 saw us pull them out of the Read more…

By RCEM Comms, ago