News and views from The Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Please use the "On this page" menu below for contents.
Welcome from the PresidentThe world’s healthcare systems have been significantly disrupted by the Covid 19 pandemic. The World Health Organisation (WHO) published its third round of a ‘global pulse survey on continuity of essential health services’ during the pandemic in February 2022.
This survey has results from 129 countries but not the UK (unclear why not; Italy are also not included but France and Germany are).
They have documented significant disruption to essential health services. In particular-
No service or delivery platform is exempt from adverse impact. Many people are missing out on essential first-contact care, with primary care and community care among the most affected service delivery settings.
Potentially life-saving emergency, critical and operative care interventions show increased service disruptions, likely resulting in substantial near-term impact on health outcomes, with 37% of countries reporting disruptions to ambulance services, 33% to 24-hour emergency room services and 24% to emergency surgeries.
What is particularly interesting – and again remember there is no UK data in this – is that Emergency care is getting worse while other parts of the system have stabilised.
So, emergency care, despite having been central to the pandemic response or because of being central to the response, is still adversely affected by the ongoing pandemic and the fragility of our systems to begin with, and the situation is deteriorating. You may not feel this is not exactly a surprising insight given our current experience in UK Emergency Care, but it does raise all sorts of interesting questions about the perceived importance of emergency care around the world. The pandemic has highlighted health inequalities and emergency care is often the only care accessible to the most vulnerable, so the system is showing the strain. Sadly, the most vulnerable and most deprived do not have a strong political voice.
Everyone is a potential emergency care patient but few plan to be. Politicians meeting their constituents are much more likely to hear about waiting lists and GP access than ambulance delays. That is simply a reality of the numbers. Individual patient stories are powerful but, at the moment, those stories tend to be a sad tale of awful delays and a statement by the relevant ambulance service and hospital apologising for the poor patient experience. There does not seem to be penetration of those with overall responsibility. In the next couple of days look out for some interesting data on public confidence in the NHS done by the Press Association through Ipsos polling. This is helpful to our case for the need to act. Knowing the health service is there for you in an emergency is a core NHS promise and one which we are struggling to honour. We all want to be able to provide high quality, safe care and we need to have the appropriate operational conditions to do this in; the clinical decision making is difficult enough as it is!
As well as dealing with an upsurge of Covid attendances and a small rise in Covid admissions we have had to watch out for Monkey Pox (as well as doing a quick revision of polio). Emergency departments have always been on the front line of infectious diseases. But our colleagues in sexual health clinics are taking the brunt of Monkey Pox concerns and it is severely disrupting their other services. This is a service which has had funding cut over the years and been under a lot of pressure. It is a vital part of public health provision. Services are not 24/7 and so inevitably some patients come to the Emergency Department. Good non-emergency redirection arrangements exist but when you do need to see a patient the PPE requirements and remembering to take all the swabs and blood bottles in with you at the same time is quite a challenge and very time consuming. On the plus side I have now seen another completely new disease for me. I never cease to enjoy the amazing variety and appreciate how adaptable we all are in our work. It is this constant clinical challenge that is so amazing and endlessly fascinating. This is what does make it possible to say Emergency Medicine is a great career choice.
Earlier in June I went to the ICEM conference in Melbourne Australia. It was wonderful to be at a big international conference in person and see many people I had only met over Zoom. Crowding and increased demand was universal. Everyone has workforce concerns. Two big themes of the conference were health inequalities and health concerns from climate change. I was introduced to the public health paradigm of Planetary Heath and Boyden’s bio sensitivity triage – Human activities, Health of people and Health of the planet. Many of the presenters on climate change lived and worked in obviously threatened environments – one high tide away from disaster. But we are all affected. One speaker summed this up:
“On the frontline we will see increased utilisation of emergency services, we will see more exotic vectors borne illness, more injuries and mental health problems from conflicts, more lung and heart problems from air pollutants. We will see increased demand to deal with those affected by disasters such as floods or fires.”
He predicted that all the leading diagnoses seen in EDs will ‘swell’ as climate change worsens.
Healthcare systems have been found wanting during this pandemic. Many of the recent advances in medicine are advances for a very small number of people. Not enough is being done to address the multiple threats to population health – here in the UK and internationally. Unless emergency care systems are restored, enhanced, and made strong we will not have learnt anything from the trauma of the last two and a half years and fail the most vulnerable again.
Next week, we will see a debate in parliament about the state of Emergency Care – I would urge you all to write to your MP asap, to encourage them to be there.
Best wishes,
Dr Katherine Henderson
President, Royal College of Emergency Medicine
@RCEMpresident
College NewsEmergency Care debate in parliament on 6 July – ask your MP to attend!
We have worked closely with Wera Hobhouse, a Liberal Democrat MP, to successfully table a debate in Parliament examining waiting times for emergency care. We need as many MPs to turn up to this as possible, to hold the Government to account and to ensure there is enough political pressure to take action and result in meaningful change.
The debate will be taking place on Wednesday 6th July at 09.30.
You can help us by emailing your local MP as soon as possible, asking them to attend. We appreciate that this is short notice, but this is due to the way parliamentary scheduling works.
Please do use this draft email content but please feel free to amend and add in your own experiences.
You can find your local MP’s contact details here.
Delays to publication of exam results
Due to an incident with the March 2022 FRCEM SBA results, we are implementing changes to our exam results production processes. The new enhanced checking process will include a thorough external review of the results prior to publication for verification purposes, but this means that results will take slightly longer to produce.
Those who have sat the May FRCEM OSCE are affected in the first instance and these candidates have been notified about the delay to their results.
However, delays to the publication of results for all recent and forthcoming exams in 2022 are likely, while we continue to review our processes and implement additional assurance measures.
We know that this is disappointing news for all candidates, and we apologise in advance for these delays to everyone affected.
We will do our best to keep these delays to a minimum, and all affected candidates will be notified as to when they can expect their results to be published after they’ve sat their exam.
Join us in Belfast for the Annual Scientific Conference
Registration for the Annual Scientific Conference is now open! We are looking forward to bringing this flagship event to the ICC Belfast on 3 – 6 October. Pre-conference workshops from APEM and ultrasound will take place in-person on 3 October. The main conference has virtual ticket options available so if you can’t make it in-person you can join us from the comfort of your own home. Click here for more information and to book your place.
Guest blogs
This month we had guest blogs from Dr Sandy Robertson, Chair of RCEM’s Environmental Special Interest Group, on Clean Air Day 2022, and from Dr David Chung, Co-Chair of RCEM’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, on Windrush Day.
RCEM Research Grants for Low Income countries – applications deadline 08 July 2022
Applications are invited for RCEM grants to undertake emergency medicine research in low income countries. The RCEM encourages applications up to £5,000 for a research application focused on improving the delivery of emergency medicine in low income countries. Applicants must:
For advice on writing a grant application see mrc.ukri.org/
The following headings should be used:
Purpose and Background – what is already known in this area and an outline of the value the research will bring to emergency medicine.
A Plan of investigation which should include:
Applications are rated according to the quality of science, the importance of the underlying research program, the strength and value of the collaboration with Members and Fellows of the College of Emergency Medicine and contextual relevance. Due regard is given to the relative wealth of the country or countries in which the research will be carried out and the findings acted upon.
Successful applicants are expected to produce a short report in the approved format on the progress of the project every 12 months for the first 2 years of the award, and may also be invited to present the findings of the study at our Annual Scientific Conference up to 3 years after the award.
*if no-one in your team is currently a member or fellow of RCEM but you have an interesting/important research idea in emergency medicine, please take a look at colleagues in the NIHR Incubator for Emergency Care who may be able to help support as a co-applicant or link you to further colleagues for this or future submissions.
Please send your application along with a copy of your CV to the College office by 17:00 on Friday 08 July 2022.
For an application form please click here.
For further information about the grant please contact:
Anisa Jafar, NIHR ACL and ST6 in Emergency Medicine on behalf of the Research & Publications Committee,
Royal College of Emergency Medicine HCRI,
University of Manchester,
Ellen Wilkinson Building,
Oxford Road,
M13 9PL.
Research Grants
Applications are invited from all College members and fellows for the Autumn 2022 RCEM Research Grants.
Grant application forms can be downloaded from here and a guidance document found here. For advice on writing a grant application see www.mrc.ac.uk and the following headings should be used:
Applications will be rated according to the quality of science, the relevance to Emergency Medicine, the potential for academic development of the lead applicant, deliverability and the likelihood that the work will lead to future research funding.
Successful applicants will be expected to produce a short report in the approved format on the progress of the project every 12 months and may also be invited to present their work at the RCEM Annual Scientific Conference.
Applications are particularly welcome from trainees, specialty doctors, consultants within 5 years of CCT and consultants without an established research background who wish to develop an academic portfolio.
The lead applicant must a member or fellow of the College. A team-based approach with strong EM leadership is encouraged. Appropriate commercial and non-commercial partnerships are welcome.
These grants are potentially eligible for inclusion on the UKCRN Portfolio and for support from your local clinical research network. Preference will be given to applicants who submit projects likely to lead to UKCRN Portfolio adoption.
Applications are particularly welcome around the theme of wellbeing and mental health. These applications will be considered for RCEM Foundation grant funding alongside being considered for funding through the main research grants call.
Please send your application along with a copy of your CV to the College office or via email to Theo.Chiles@rcem.ac.uk
Deadline: 5pm Friday 23 September 2022
For further information regarding the application process please contact:
Theo Chiles, RCEM research committee administration email: Theo.Chiles@rcem.ac.uk
Matt Reed, RCEM Professor, email: matthew.reed@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
NHSBN 2022 Managing Frailty and Emergency Care Projects
NHS Benchmarking’s Emergency Care and Managing Frailty projects have now both opened for data collection.
Data collection will be open until Friday 8 July for Emergency Care and Friday 15 July for Managing Frailty, and organisations are still able to register to participate if they have not already done so.
This year NHS Benchmarking are undertaking a new “blended” approach to the Emergency Care and Managing Frailty projects in 2022, to help achieve a broader, system level overview of particularly the non-elective pathways within secondary care.
Some metrics previously collected as part of the Managing Frailty project into the Emergency Care project (most notably those about medical assessment units) have been moved, and also introduced expanded sections within both projects around admission avoidance initiatives such as Same Day Emergency Care and Acute Frailty services.
The intention is to use this data to produce a new additional bespoke report for 2022 on Admission Avoidance, which will bring together elements of both the Emergency Care and Managing Frailty projects.
The creation of this report for an organisation is dependent on data being submitted to relevant sections included within both projects, and therefore participants are encouraged to register for both.
NHS Benchmarking are also holding its annual Managing Frailty and Emergency Care Share Learning Webinars once again this year, with the Emergency Care event scheduled for on Thursday 23 June and Managing Frailty for Thursday 30 June.
To find our more or to register please visit the NHSBN members’ area or email enquiries@nhsbenchmarking.nhs.uk
EMJ’s latest issue is now online
EMJ’s latest issue is now online. The highlights are summarised by the journal’s editor, Ellen Weber, here. It’s worth mentioning the editor’s choice for this month:
There will be a podcast summarising this issue up soon, keep an eye on BMJ Talk Medicine for the latest EMJ podcast content.
Don’t forget you can access our most read articles of the last couple of years here.
Get involved!
We have a number of opportunities for members to get involved with the workings of the College and help set the direction of our boards and committees.
Role profiles and person specifications for all roles can be found at rcem.ac.uk/volunteering-2
#CountMeIn – help us improve representation by filling in your College profile
Emergency Medicine is one of the most diverse professional clinical communities. Unfortunately, we are currently unable to fully evidence the diverse intersectionality of who we are, as the demographic data we have of our members is patchy.
Thing Spring we’re running #CountMeIn to truly capture and celebrate the diverse intersectionality of who we are.
Having a sense of our members’ representation will help us to better understand how best to represent you.
Help us to help you by filling in your College profile today.
Join us in starting a dialogue about the importance of representation in emergency medicine by sharing the campaign and your views on social media.
RespectED – our anti-bullying campaign to challenge toxic behaviour in EDs
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine is launching RespectED, an anti-bullying campaign that aims to raise awareness and tackle the rise in toxic behaviours such as bullying, harassment and incivility between staff in Emergency Departments (EDs). These negative behaviours have a huge impact in EDs; they can create a toxic working environment, affect morale and the delivery of safe patient care.
The RespectED campaign is being launched to acknowledge that bullying, harassment and incivility occur in Emergency Departments. It encourages staff to address their own behaviours, to speak up and challenge these behaviours if they witness or are targeted by them and to positively change Emergency Departments and their cultures.
As pressures once again mount on the NHS it is vital that negative and toxic behaviours are challenged, and staff are supported by their colleagues and peers.
Jayne Hidderley, Chair of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Lay Group, said: “We know when incivility and bullying take place in our Emergency Departments, it not only has a detrimental effect on all staff but is a serious risk to patient safety. Our RespectED campaign, in collaboration with Civility Saves Lives, is a call to action to raise awareness amongst our staff and start the conversation. We want all staff in our Emergency Departments to be equipped to speak up, challenge these behaviours and change the culture together.”
You can find out more about the campaign, along with other useful resources, here.
Parents! Apply now for The Leaders Plus Fellowship Programme
Are you expecting a baby, currently on maternity or shared parental leave, have recently returned to work or have children who are in primary school? If yes, then apply now for the award-winning Leaders Plus Fellowship Programme.
The Leaders Plus Fellowship is a nine-month Programme enabling parents with babies and young children to accelerate their careers whilst still enjoying their families. You’ll get access to inspirational role models, a Senior Leader Mentor, a cross-sector network of peers, as well as support to progress your career whilst looking after young children.
The RCEM are delighted to part-fund 6 places on the Leaders Plus Fellowship for individuals working in emergency medicine. Find out more at http://www.leadersplus.org.uk/rcem
EUSEM Academy
We would like to share with you the opportunity to access the European Society of Emergency Medicine’s (EUSEM) learning platform as part of the College’s membership with EUSEM.
The platform contains a range of resources including webinars, videos and document libraries, the majority of resources are available via open access, find out more via: https://academy.eusem.org>
Follow our Officers on Twitter
Are you following our officers on Twitter? Keep up to date by using these handles:
You can also follow our current VPs for the devolved nations:
EventsRegistration for the Annual Scientific Conference is now open! We are looking forward to bringing this flagship event to the ICC Belfast on 3 – 6 October. Pre-conference workshops from APEM and ultrasound will take place in-person on 3 October. The main conference has virtual ticket options available so if you can’t make it in-person you can join us from the comfort of your own home.
Click here for more information and to book your place.
Emergency hypnosis
Date: 8 July 2022
Hypnosis is an evidenced technique for improving quality of care for patients and staff wellbeing. For clinicians, it increases relaxation, wellbeing and prevention of burnout. There is benefit for the patient as an adjuvant in managing a wide variety of ailments. This day will introduce you to some simple relaxation and hypnosis techniques you can start to use immediately.
View the programme online and book now
Paediatrics: back to basics
Date: 14 July 2022
During the COVID-19 pandemic attendances of children and young people to the Emergency Department varied. This study day aims to provide an overview of the common paediatric conditions presenting to the ED, while considering diagnoses that may not be glaringly obvious and may cause a diagnostic conundrum.
View the programme online and book now
Return to EM
Date: 15 July 2022
This free-to-attend virtual event will include talks on a wide variety of topics designed to support EM doctors returning to clinical practice in the ED this year.
View the programme online and book now
Catch-up with past events
All our virtual study days are available for booking post-event for 6-months. This means if you’ve missed a study day you can register and watch the whole thing whenever suits you. Recent study days that have been added include:
You can also book to catch-up with all 3-days of the recent Spring CPD Conference. This content is available to watch for 12-months.
PolicyEmergency Care debate in parliament on 6 July – ask your MP to attend!
We have worked closely with Wera Hobhouse, a Liberal Democrat MP, to successfully table a debate in Parliament examining waiting times for emergency care. We need as many MPs to turn up to this as possible, to hold the Government to account and to ensure there is enough political pressure to take action and result in meaningful change.
The debate will be taking place on Wednesday 6th July at 09.30.
You can help us by emailing your local MP as soon as possible, asking them to attend. We appreciate that this is short notice, but this is due to the way parliamentary scheduling works.
Please do use this draft email content but please feel free to amend and add in your own experiences.
You can find your local MP’s contact details here.
Tip of the Iceberg: 12-Hour Stays in the Emergency Department
Our new report reveals that on average 1,047 patients waited 12-hours or more from their time of arrival every day in a major Emergency Department in 2021 in England, equalling a total of 381,991 patients experiencing these 12-hour waits in 2021.
A Freedom of Information request was submitted to 124 NHS trusts in England, and we received responses from 74. The data captured therefore represents only 60% of trusts in England, meaning the scale of the problem is actually far higher.
The report calls for action to tackle these long waits, starting with full and regular publication of 12 hour stays measured from time of arrival rather than when a decision to admit is made.
There was much media attention on the report, with coverage in all the main national newspapers and interviews with Good Morning Britain and ITV news.
Press releases
RCEM Acute Insight Series: Beds in the NHS
The latest in our Acute Insight Series, ‘Beds in the NHS’ shows that an additional 13,000 staffed beds are required in the NHS across the UK to drive meaningful change and improvement. Meaningful change and improvement would constitute a significant improvement in A&E waiting times, ambulance response times, ambulance handover delays, and a return to safe bed occupancy levels. The report can be read here and press statement here.
RCEM CARES: The Next Phase
There is a severe mismatch between demand and capacity in the Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) system. The unparalleled levels of demand placed on EDs has not been met with sufficient investment into the NHS. EDs now sustain other parts of the system and are the first port of call for many patients, despite not always being the most appropriate place to receive care. The pandemic has exacerbated many of these challenges and there is an urgent obligation to plan for the future healthcare needs of the UK. Eliminating overcrowding must be the number one priority.
Our RCEM CARES campaign provides solutions to address these pressing issues so that ED staff can deliver safe and timely care for patients. The campaign focuses on five key areas: Crowding, Access, Retention, Experience, and Safety.
In RCEM CARES: The Next Phase, we revisit our original policy asks in light of COVID-19 and begin to explore what happens next. Read it here
Performance Figures
A summary of all the latest performance figures for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can be found here.
Quality and AuditQIPS
We are still taking registrations for the QIPs, all the details can be found here. Should you have any questions please email quality@rcem.ac.uk
The Consultant Sign Off QIP data collection began on 25 April. EDs that have registered to participate can now enter data by logging in to the portal.
The QIP 2020 – 2021 Infection Prevention and Control report has recently been published and can be viewed here.
The QIP 2020 – 2021 Pain in Children report has recently been published and can be viewed here.
Get involved!
Toxicology SIG member vacancies x 4
Safety Flash
Membership#CountMeIn Campaign
There is still the opportunity for you to contribute to RCEM’s #CountMeIn campaign, working to ensure that the specialty is inclusive, fair and equitable. To get involved, please fill in your profile here.
Although we know Emergency Medicine is diverse, we are unable to fully evidence the extent of this diversity and completing your profile will allow us to better understand you and the Emergency Medicine workforce. Without this, we cannot advocate on your behalf and the info you provide will:
Please ensure you fill in your profile and if you have any queries about the campaign, please contact policy@rcem.ac.uk
Member Engagement Group – Get involved and have your say!
RCEM’s Member Engagement Group (MEG) involves members in what the College does and how it does it. The MEG’s valuable insights will allow us to deliver an even better service and will also mean that we can more effectively support you, your fellow members and all Emergency Medicine staff.
Being part of this group is an opportunity for you to contribute to the College, engage directly with its staff (recent meetings were attended by the Exams/Training teams and an upcoming meeting will be attended by our Chief Executive) and inform what we do and how we do it. We want to add to the diverse group of members already in the MEG to provide insight into our work as well as feeding back on how we are doing and what we could do better. The time commitment isn’t onerous (approximately three online surveys and four meetings per year and attendance isn’t compulsory) and you can join at any time.
Further information can be found on our website here and if you would like to find out more about/join the MEG then please contact Jen jennifer.barley@rcem.ac.uk
Are you making the most of your EMJ subscription?
For members with an EMJ subscription access is available online as well as through the traditional monthly paper copy. If you have any queries about the delivery of your subscription or how to access the EMJ online the membership team are happy to help - membership@rcem.ac.uk
There is also the option to make your EMJ subscription online only so email us if you would like to switch to your preference.
RCEM Merchandise
Following our recent rebranding, new RCEM merchandise is now available in our online shop. Thermal travel mugs, hoodies, notebooks, water bottles and other items can be bought via www.rcemshop.co.uk so get your merch and show your EM pride!
All members have the benefit of being able to enjoy RCEM Lifestyle Rewards at any time via 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.
Below are this month’s special selection of Lifestyle Rewards.
 |
Motor Source Group Save thousands off your new car with Motor Source Group discounts! Specialising in new car discounts on a full range of makes & models for UK Healthcare Professionals. Customers save £4,500 on average! |
|
Joseph Cheaney & Sons Producers of some of the finest, handcrafted English shoes for over 130 years in the same red brick Victorian factory… Members save 10% on handcrafted English shoes. |
|
Plain Sailing Award-winning Yacht & Catamaran Charter Experts in Greece, Croatia, the Med & the Caribbean… |
|
Beer52 How does a free case of beer sound? Members get 8 delicious craft beers, delivered to your door, with only £5.95 postage to cover! |
|
Charles Tyrwhitt We endeavour to produce the finest menswear, with timeless style and no compromise on quality. Members save 10% plus free delivery! |
|
Fresh Grills Outdoor Cooking Specialists… Upgrade you garden with serious cooking equipment. Specialising in outdoor pizza and Kamado ovens. Members save 10%. |
|
PIONEROS Handcrafted leather goods from Argentina… Save 10% on Polo belts, Dog collars, suede & leather Handbags, luxurious Purses, Washbags, plus a range of leather Accessories… |
|
Nu-Fit Dedicated to pursuit of fitness and wellbeing… Save 10% on a wide range of equipment including weights, dumbbells, kettlebells, bars, plates & indoor cycling training |
|
Millichamp & Hall Finest Handmade Cricket Bats… An international reputation for crafting high performance cricket bats for players of all ages and abilities. Members save 20% |
|
Isle of Wight Meat Co. Premium Himalayan salt-aged beef, lamb & pork direct from our farm… Members receive an exclusive “Butchers Choice” extra with every order! |
|
Bella & Duke 100% nutritious & delicious… Natural raw dog food is 100% nutritious & delicious, designed by nutritionists & approved by vets. 50% off your first box + free delivery + free gift! |
|
Boho Betty Stylish Bohochic jewellery focusing on layering… Save 15% on original, stand-out jewellery that looks great and makes you feel amazing! |
|
The Oxton Liqueur Company ‘Makers of the Finest Fruit Liqueurs’. Members save 10% on ‘dangerously delicious’ award-winning fruit liqueurs in beautiful, personalised bottles… |
|
Hattingley Valley Wines Award-winning Premium English Wines… Never had the pleasure of sipping award-winning premium English wine? With 20% off when you spend £70, now’s your chance! |
ExaminationsDelays to publication of exam results
Due to an incident with the March 2022 FRCEM SBA results, we are implementing changes to our exam results production processes. The new enhanced checking process will include a thorough external review of the results prior to publication for verification purposes, but this means that results will take slightly longer to produce.
Those who have sat the May FRCEM OSCE are affected in the first instance and these candidates have been notified about the delay to their results.
However, delays to the publication of results for all recent and forthcoming exams in 2022 are likely, while we continue to review our processes and implement additional assurance measures.
We know that this is disappointing news for all candidates, and we apologise in advance for these delays to everyone affected.
We will do our best to keep these delays to a minimum, and all affected candidates will be notified as to when they can expect their results to be published after they’ve sat their exam.
New Chief Examiner Appointed
We are delighted to announce that Jill Stafford has been appointed as the new Chief Examiner and will be responsible for all aspects of the MRCEM & FRCEM examinations. Jill has played a key role in helping to shape college examinations over the years and her new role will include chairing the Examinations Sub-committee. Jill will be stepping up from her current role of FRCEM OSCE Lead Examiner and recruitment for her replacement will begin in the coming weeks
Examiners Needed
We are extremely grateful to all examiners who volunteer their time to support the delivery of our OSCE examinations. Existing MRCEM & FRCEM examiners are invited to schedule examining dates for the following OSCE examinations via their Ripleys account:
Any examiners unable to access their Ripleys account can contact Ruby at exams@rcem.ac.uk, who can resend their log in details and/or book dates on their behalf.
The College recently posted a video from Will Townsend, College Dean, highlighting the need for MRCEM OSCE exam. The College requires 18 Examiners a day for the MRCEM OSCE to run successfully. If you are interested in becoming an Examiner and supporting the College in this capacity, please see here for more information. SAS grade clinicians are eligible become Examiners. The College is underrepresented by woman and ethnic minorities at Examiner level, and we would welcome applications from individuals within those demographics.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Exams Team on exams@rcem.ac.uk
Changes to International Examining Criteria
The Examinations Sub-Committee recently reviewed the criteria for International Examiners and introduced interim equivalence for international MRCEM examiners who do not hold MRCEM or FRCEM. The Examinations Sub-Committee have agreed that international MRCEM OSCE examiners (not holding MRCEM/FRCEM) must meet the following revised eligibility criteria:
Individuals who have failed to get MRCEM or FRCEM cannot be examiners. This interim equivalence will be applicable to all international MRCEM examiners for the next two years until August 2024. This standard will be revisited before it expires.
Other Ways to Get Involved
There are lots of other ways to support the ongoing development and delivery of our examinations. We are looking for more individuals to join our Question Writing working groups and develop questions and scenarios for future written and OSCE examinations (MRCEM Primary, MRCEM SBA, FRCEM SBA, MRCEM OSCE & FRCEM OSCE). If you are interested or would like to find out more, we would love to hear from you – please contact the team at exams@rcem.ac.uk
Changes to the way MRCEM OSCE examinations are marked
The GMC have approved the move to Domain Based marking for MRCEM OSCE examinations from September 2022 onwards. MRCEM OSCE Examiners will be required to attend training workshops for this and will be contacted with more information soon.
TrainingARCPs
A presentation on how to prepare for ARCP took place on Thursday 28 April, including a demonstration on how to complete the Educational Supervisor Report in Kaizen. Watch the recording here.
A reminder that there are materials on how to prepare to ARCPs on our website.
Ultrasound and the 2021 Curriculum
Our PoCUS group has met to provide answers to your most frequently asked questions regarding the 2021 Curriculum – FAQs
ELSE Form update
The ELSE form can now be created by supervisors as well as trainees. Supervisors can only create the ESLE for trainees if they have been added as the supervisor by the trainee. An assessor that is not linked to a trainee as an Educational or Clinical Supervisor, TPD or Tutor cannot create the ESLE and the trainee must create the ESLE in this situation.
Latest publications
Here’s a selection of some of June’s most popular publications:
Other newsGMC good medical practice consultation
The General Medical Council (GMC) is running a public consultation on an updated version of Good medical practice. This sets the standards of professional behaviour and patient care expected from all doctors in the UK.
Several areas of the guidance have been updated, including new duties for doctors to help tackle poor workplace cultures. The proposed changes emphasise behaviours between colleagues and interactions with patients which are compassionate, civil, inclusive and fair.
Healthcare staff can share their views by taking part in a short survey for healthcare professionals or by joining an online event. The consultation is open until 20 July 2022. You’ll also receive a certificate for your portfolio for getting involved.
This is the first update to Good medical practice since 2013. The GMC want to hear views from healthcare professionals working at all levels and across all specialties. For more information about the consultation and why it’s important to take part, please visit the GMC’s Good medical practice webpages.
AoMRC – Medical Appraisal Guidance 2022<
Almost ten years after the launch of revalidation in 2012, this new guidance brings the process for medical appraisal up to date and ensures it is fit for the future. The burden of documenting reflection that takes doctors away from patient care has been reduced by recognising the value of verbal reflection during the appraisal discussion. The developmental purposes of appraisal have been reaffirmed. Importantly, every doctor who wants to will continue to have the opportunity to consider how they maintain the health and wellbeing to practise safely and effectively.
The guidance is also aligned with the latest appraisal principles and processes across the four nations and meets all the GMC requirements for a medical appraisal for revalidation. It is based on feedback and the evaluation of the benefits of the AoMRC Appraisal 2020 process for the pandemic, including research published simultaneously by the GMC.
Can You Tell It’s Sickle Cell?
NHS England and NHS Improvement is launching a new Sickle Cell awareness campaign ahead of World Sickle Cell Day 2022.
The campaign, which is part of a bigger drive to improve sickle cell care across the NHS, aims to increase awareness of the key signs and symptoms of a Sickle Cell crisis, particularly among urgent emergency care staff and those living with the condition and their carers.
Anyone can be born with Sickle Cell disorder, but it is most common amongst people from a black Caribbean or black African background.
If a person has any of these symptoms, immediate action should be taken as they could be signs of a Sickle Cell crisis or complication:
Acting quickly can save lives.
If someone has these symptoms, they should seek urgent medical attention – this may be via A&E, 999 or their local haematology unit – and should be treated immediately. Patients admitted to the hospital for sickle cell complications should be referred promptly to and treated by haematologists or clinicians with expertise in sickle cell disorders.
A new training module for NHS staff has also been launched to support increased knowledge of the condition and how to treat it. The training module also includes information on healthcare inequalities related to the condition: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/health-inequalities/
RCN – Nursing under unsustainable pressures: staffing for safe and effective care in the UK
In March 2022, the RCN invited nursing and midwifery staff from across the UK to give their experiences of the last time they were at work. There were 20,325 responses to the survey. Eight in ten (83 per cent) said there weren’t enough nursing staff to meet all patient needs safely and effectively on their last shift. Just a quarter (25 per cent) of shifts had the planned number of registered nurses. Less than one in five (18 per cent) said they had enough time to provide the level of care they’d like.
NHS Providers – NHS reality check: the financial and performance ask for trusts
This report outlines the findings of a survey of NHS leaders, looking at the pressures being felt across the health and social care sector. It finds that rising demand for NHS services combined with workforce pressures and an underfunded social care system means there is a still a long road ahead for trusts in tackling care backlogs. It highlights how the pandemic has deepened existing pressures and finds that many waiting times targets are taking longer to deliver than expected. However, trusts report that the number of patients being seen in mental health services and cancer services exceed pre-pandemic levels.
Guidance on prevention and management of stress at work
Updated guidance from NHS Employers aimed at managers and employees at all levels within the organisation to support colleagues experiencing stress.
How well is the NHS in Wales performing?
Nuffield Trust briefing on the performance of the NHS in Wales.
HEE Mandate
The DHSC has published the mandate for HEE for 2022-23. The key objectives are:
This survey, carried out by the NHS Confederation’s BME Leadership Network, found that many senior leaders from BME backgrounds had experienced verbal abuse and behaviour targeting their racial, national or cultural heritage at least once in the past three years. In addition, only one in ten respondents were confident that the NHS is delivering its commitment to combat institutional racism.
DHSC – Data saves lives: reshaping health and social care with data
This strategy sets out the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s vision for how data will be used to improve the health and care of the population in a safe, trusted and transparent way. It provides an overarching narrative and action plan to address the current cultural, behavioural and structural barriers in the system, with the ultimate goal of having a health and care system that is underpinned by high-quality and readily available data. The strategy also marks the next steps of the discussion about how we can best utilise data for the benefit of patients, service users, and the health and care system.
Addressing Health Inequalities: Distribution of Medical Specialty Training Programme
HEE has set up a webpage for its work on addressing health inequalities through the distribution of medical specialty training programme. This incorporates the approach to the next set of specialties.
COVID Vaccination
NHS England has written to systems set out next steps for COVID-19 vaccination. The letter sets out plans to complete the spring booster campaign and vaccination offer to the end of August, as well as planning for the delivery of an integrated autumn and winter vaccination campaign, including responding to outbreaks. Those aged 75 or over by 30 June and those who have had a weakened immune system, for example because of an underlying health condition, medication or following a transplant, are strongly encouraged to book an appointment by this date through the National Booking Service or by calling 119. More information is available in the letter and
CME/CPD Survey of Practicing doctors in Europe
The Association of Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) Postgraduate Committee is currently conducting research into understanding the current CME/CPD systems in Europe, through a mixed-method study and want input through the survey to help them understand the experience, perceptions, and needs of doctors.
This is a link to the survey: https://amee.org/news/survey-of-practicing-physicians-in-europe-regardin The survey should take no more than ten minutes to complete.
This report finds health care professionals are positive about shared decision-making – a way of working with patients to decide treatment options. But the report also finds professionals’ ability to practice shared decision-making regularly is limited by the current crisis in the NHS. The report makes a number of recommendations and The Patients Association will now look to partner with NHS England, the Personalised Care Institute and other organisations to support professionals’ call for more support to practice shared decision-making.
A full list of vacancies is available here
Consultant in Emergency Medicine
North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, Peterborough
£84,559 to £114,003 a year per annum
Applications are invited for Consultants in Emergency Medicine, based at Peterborough City Hospital, North West Anglia NHS FT,
Read more…
Consultant in Emergency Medicine
The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Wakefield
£84,559 to £114,003 pa
Successful applicants will work as part of a group of 24 ED Consultants on a 21 whole-time equivalent rota to provide senior medical staff on site
Read more…
Consultant in Emergency Medicine Ysbyty Glan Clwyd
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Bodelwyddan
Negotiable £82,356 – £106,290 pa
Want to be part of a dynamic team delivering high quality Emergency Care, in an amazing part of the country? If so, the…
Read more…
