President
Good medical practice – why we all deserve to be RespectED at work, and beyond
The General Medical Council has published an update of ‘Good medical practice’ as ‘detailing the principles, values and standards of doctors working in the UK’
Policy
The value of a trained and trainee emergency physician
There is a view in policy circles that there has been too much investment in frontline emergency services. Recent reports show that Emergency Medicine has been the fastest growing medical specialty over the last 15 years…
President
From a “first” to number 10…
Last week saw the unprecedented walk out by postgraduate doctors training in England for 72 continuous hours. Like many of my Consultant colleagues, I was apprehensive about what this might mean for our patients.
President
Don’t blink or you’ll miss it…
You just can’t blink or you’ll miss something. After a Monday in minors, churning through legions of sprained ankles and bumped heads…
President
What are you doing on Saturday?
December and January have been particularly torrid. An early and unexpected Group A Strep outbreak resulted in huge pressure on paediatric areas, and then the predictable ‘twindemic’ of flu and COVID resulted in extraordinary exit block and hideous crowding.
President
Christmas is coming…
December is traditionally a time of celebration and I hope you are all able to get some time off with your families during the holiday period. Like many of you, I will be ‘celebrating’ Christmas by working overnight on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, our patients’ illnesses and injuries are no respecter of the calendar.
President
Diary of the first week as President
I travelled up to Birmingham for the Conservative Party Conference and attended a health event led by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. The event was in a small hot, noisy room overfull of people lobbying anyone in government, a good analogy for emergency care. Finished with a nice dinner with Luke and Pooja…
President
EMJ interview with new RCEM President, Adrian Boyle
Adrian Boyle, EM Consultant in Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cambridge, succeeded Katherine Hender-son as President of RCEM at the AGM held on 4 October 2022 during the Scientific Conference in Belfast.
News
Beds in the NHS
In May 2022, RCEM published a policy report uninspiringly called ‘Beds in the NHS’. Despite the dull title, it attracted significant media attention, being a lead story in national media. As is often the way, the story was recycled into local papers giving us coverage in publications as diverse as the Milford Mercury, Grimsby Live and the East Lothian Courier. Unusually, there was almost universal agreement from all sides of the media that the NHS does not have enough beds for the work it needs to do.