News and views from The Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Please use the "On this page" menu below for contents.
Clinical work continued apace with the unexpected plot twist of thunderstorm asthma. I always feel that this time of year is busy with cyclists and motorcyclists, I have looked at a lot of damaged lycra recently.
I had a meeting with both the Secretary of State, Steve Barclay and the Minister for secondary care and hospitals, Will Quince. They were genuinely interested to hear from the College, and have received a clear message that progress against the UEC recovery plan is fragile and uncertain. I hope this leads to better decisions. Salwa Malik, VP membership, gave evidence at short notice to a House of Lords Select Committee about integration of primary and secondary care and how patients with mental health presentations are getting a very raw deal. Meanwhile, we held a face-to-face Council meeting with a packed agenda. We have moved many meetings online, partly to cut costs but also deliberately to increase participation from all around the UK. The occasional face to face meeting is still necessary for some of the stickier issues and the human connection.
In between all of the frenetic College activity, there was time to do some fun stuff. We celebrated the contribution of Council and the help of our friends at the Cliff Mann dinner. An important perk of College life is nice meals in beautiful buildings. I attended the International Congress in Emergency Medicine in Amsterdam. Meeting other EM College and Society Presidents was an interesting and useful experience, crowding, workforce burnout and poor staff morale are certainly not confined to the UK. We compared tactics and strategy.
This month a number of important reports came out. The GMC published a report into trainee well-being The state of medical education and practice in the UK – GMC (gmc-uk.org) , the Health Foundation on the length of emergency admissions NHS hospitals forced to cut admissions by over half a million due to lack of beds, new analysis shows (health.org.uk), and the National Audit Office on UEC performance Access to unplanned or urgent care – National Audit Office (NAO) report . All provide objective confirmation of what we have been saying for years. Our departments are crowded, usually because of exit block and this makes an unpleasant working environment.
Access to unplanned or urgent care – National Audit Office (NAO) report
A National Audit Office (NAO) report assessing the government’s approach to improving urgent and emergency care services in England.
www.nao.org.uk
NHS hospitals forced to cut admissions by over half a million due to lack of beds, new analysis shows
Health Foundation release analysis on length of stay of hospital admissions from 2019 to 2022
www.health.org.uk
The state of medical education and practice in the UK
The state of medical education and practice in the UK highlights what are the prominent issues in UK healthcare. You can find reports and data tables here.
www.gmc-uk.org
On a slightly gloomy note, I’m writing this as the BMA Junior Doctors Committee have announced a five day strike in July. This includes a weekend for the first time and feels as if Urgent and Emergency Care is targeted more specifically. The College is not a union, and can’t comment on terms and conditions, but I am sure everyone wants this resolved as soon as possible.
See our campaign to improve care. Resuscitating Emergency Care
Dr Adrian Boyle
President, Royal College of Emergency Medicine
@RCEMpresident
The GreenED programme is based on a framework of evidence-based actions that improve the environmental sustainability of an Emergency Department (ED), divided into bronze, silver and gold levels, along with the tools and guidance to help achieve them.
The GreenED website is now live and you can explore the open-access resources, benefits, how to get involved and sign up to the programme online.
Signing up gives access to the Framework, which is available on an online portal hosted on the GreenED website.
Joining GreenED will also give access to a comprehensive package of support, and on completion the option to apply for formal accreditation from RCEM.
Online Q&A
To support the launch of GreenED we are holding an online Q&A session on 18 July 7-8pm.
This is one of a series of networking events we run via our Emergency Sustainable Care Network, hosted by the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare.
We recommend joining the network to connect with others working to a sustainable NHS.
You can read more about the GreenED launch here: Setting standards for green emergency healthcare/.
Follow GreenED on social media @GreenED_UK and get involved.
Thank you for reading. If you have any further questions or want to contact the GreenED team, please email greened.rcem.ac.uk.
The RCEM ED Workforce Census is well underway in England. Has your department submitted its response yet? Talk to your colleagues and Clinical Lead to make sure you have your say in the staffing needs for your department by responding to our Workforce Census. This is our chance to evidence staffing issues across the country. It’s our future, let’s not leave it blank. If you are a Clinical Lead, you can access the online census link here. If you are not, we urge you to pass this onto your Clinical Lead or another relevant colleague. To view the questions in advance of submitting and to collate the necessary information, you can download a PDF of the question here. Thank you in advance for your time. If you have any questions, please email census@rcem.ac.uk
If you have an event which you’d like to run as a RCEM study day in 2024, complete and return our event proposal form by Friday 21 July. Click here to download the proposal form or email us on events@rcem.ac.uk for more information.
Date: 26 – 28 September 2023
The programme has now been launched for the Annual Scientific Conference 2023. We are delighted to bring you cutting-edge emergency medicine research and evidence-based practice sessions from across the UK and beyond. Programme highlights include the prestigious David Williams Lecture delivered by Professor Suzanne Mason plus keynote talks from Dr Stevan Bruijns and Dr Ffion Davies. Book your onsite or virtual space today.
Date: 6 September
Autistic people and people with a learning disability face health inequalities, are likely to die earlier and are more likely to die from a treatable cause of death. Look at the reasons why and how you can enhance care at this virtual study day. Register now.
Date: 10 October
Delirium is an acute confusional state caused by physical illness. This virtual event includes a range of speakers to give an expert guide to the assessment and management of delirium, including consideration of delirium as a patient safety issue. Book your place today.
Date: 11 October
Develop your knowledge of acute adolescent medicine at this virtual study day. Sessions include talks on mental health, sexual health conditions, safeguarding, communication approaches, and consent and capacity. Register online.
All our virtual events are available for booking on-demand for 9-months after their live date. This means if you’ve missed a study day you can register and watch the whole thing whenever suits you. Recent events that have been added include:
Attention all College members and fellows! We are excited to announce the opening of applications for the Autumn 2023 RCEM Research Grants. This is your chance to win a prestigious research grant and make a significant impact in Emergency Medicine. Here, you can find the grant application form, grant application guidance document and more research funding information.
Applications will be evaluated based on various criteria, including the quality of science, relevance to Emergency Medicine, potential for academic development, deliverability, and future research funding potential. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to present their work at the RCEM Annual Scientific Conference and will be required to provide regular progress reports on their projects. The deadline for applications is 8th September 2023. Please contact policy@rcem.ac.uk if you have any questions.
We’ve launched our new campaign to tackle the problems facing Emergency Medicine. Five Priorities for UK Governments to #ResuscitateEmergencyCare lays out what UK governments must focus on to tackle the crisis, improve patient care, retain staff, and prevent harm. The five priorities are:
You can read the full recommendations here, and the press release here.
The College routinely sends a College Representative, also known as an Assessor, to attend recruitment panels across the UK (in-person and virtually) for consultant appointments interviews, known as Advisory Appointment Committees (AACs). Having an Assessor on a recruitment panel ensures transparency, fairness and equality is achieved for the candidates and appointing trust.
RCEM would love to extend the list of Assessors to improve availability and diversity while also relieving pressure on the Assessors who already support us. If you’re interested, more information can be found here, or email: AAC@rcem.ac.uk if you’re keen to sign up.
https://rcem.ac.uk/advisory-appointments-committee/
Please note: The date for this event is September 14, NOT October 14 as shown in the newsletter email.
Quality Improvement is now an integral part of what EM trainees are expected to engage in throughout their training. This is encapsulated in the QIAT, marked by the educational supervisor, and submitted at each ARCP.
Are you an EM educational supervisor? Do you want to know more about SLO 11 in the RCEM Curriculum? Would you like to learn more about QI methodology so that you can support your trainees more effectively? If so, this training day may be just the thing for you.
It covers RCEM Curriculum requirements for QI, interactive workshops on key aspects of QI, guidance on supervising a trainee and a detailed exploration of the QIAT and how to mark one. The day is open to all trainers, including Specialty Tutors and local QI leads.
When? September 14, 2023, 10:00 – 16:00
Where? Royal College of Emergency Medicine 7-9 Bream’s Buildings, London, England EC4A 1DT
See More and sign up – Train the trainer course programme
As you may have already seen we were pleased to announce that we are providing no cost to membership subscription for members on new parents’ leave, backdated to include any members who began new parents leave from January 1 2023.
The policy covers members who take adoption, as well as periods of maternity or paternity leave of longer than one month and the membership team are currently working with eligible members to refund 2023 subscriptions where applicable.
Any members who have questions about this – or any other element of their membership subscription – can contact the membership services team via telephone (020 7404 1999 option 1 for member services), by emailing membership@rcem.ac.uk or LiveChat via our website.
Balancing everyday life with the requirements of work and home can create pressures for all of us. Health Assured provides our members with complimentary access to an enhanced IAP (Individual Assistance Programme) to assist you in achieving this balance. Health Assured can provide you and your family members with support on a broad range of emotional and practical support.
You can call Health Assured on 0800 028 0199, the 24/7 confidential helpline is available for unlimited calls whether you are having a stressful day or perhaps you are dealing with a difficult time in your life. There are many reasons you can utilise the Health Assured service, some detailed below:
Support is also available online via the Health and Wellbeing portal, and My Healthy Advantage app:
Portal: HealthAssuredEap.co.uk | Username: wellbeing | Password: GeneAxisFile
My Healthy Advantage app: Available download on the Google Play or Apple App store under ‘My Healthy Advantage’
All members have the benefit of being able to enjoy RCEM Lifestyle Rewards at any time via https://www.rcem-rewards.co.uk/. Members receive new exclusive discounts and added value offers every month on a wide range of luxury products, services & experiences.
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Members receive a free ivory chiller bag!
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Get £5 off your first Winston Trial Set, when you sign up to a Harry’s subscription.
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| Podcast | June 2023 |
| LS | The Dying Patient |
| Ref | The Dying Patient |
| Case | A Paediatric Renal Dilemma |
| Blog | Eating Disorders in the ED |
| Case | I’m breathless – is it a bad chest? |
| Podcast | EMJ June 2023 |
| Reference | Carbon Monoxide Poisoning |
| Case | My grandma is complaining of eye pain |
| SBA | A Dagger To The Heart |
| SBA | PHEM: A day as a Prehospital Emergency Medicine observer |
| Case | I think I’ve gone blind! |
As we approach the August Induction season, we would like to make you aware of some of the changes made to the process of enrolling your Inductees.
RCEMLearning regularly receives feedback from our supervisors, and we want to ensure that you are provided with the best quality experience on our platform.
We would like to share with you the following improvements and changes to our Induction programme:
Please find out more about the changes to our Induction programme here: https://www.rcemlearning.co.uk/induction-registration-form/
Looking for a summer fitness goal? We are looking for willing volunteers to represent RCEM at the Royal Parks Half Marathon on Sunday 8 October. If you think you’re not a runner, that’s ok – walk, jog, hop if you want to, across the 13.1 mile course which takes in some of London’s most beautiful green spaces. You’ll be cheered on by a veritable support squad from the College itself and even have your own t-shirt! It’s a fantastic way to welcome in autumn and raise money for the College’s fundraising activities at the same time.
If you like the sound of representing RCEM, please email fundraising@rcem.ac.uk for more information. You can find out more about ways to support RCEM in general and if you would like to suggest an activity we are always open to ideas. Again, please drop us a line at fundraising@rcem.ac.uk
Support RCEM – How to support RCEM with fundraising and our charitable work including FAQs, resources, ideas & inspiration.
