​If you are stepping up into your first registrar post or stepping back from a period of time out of training (maternity leave, research, travelling etc) then join us on the 15th July for the Step up/Step back study day at UHS. 

The course provides a safe, protected environment to discuss the anxieties many trainees experience in moving on to a new step in their careers, and to practice some of the clinical skills involved in leading the management of acutely unwell children and neonates. 

​The Step Up/Step Back course utilises high fidelity simulation to give trainees the experience of managing the acute presentations of a variety of paediatric and neonatal conditions, such as Sepsis, Extreme Premature Delivery, Seizures, HIE and neonatal ventilation. The course also contains lectures covering generic registrar skills, managing ward wounds and junior staff, multitasking, child protection and other topics.

Register for your place by going to the Step up/Step back page in the trainees section. 

Please be advised that there has been an increase in the number of children with acute pertussis (whooping cough) in the region, including one recent death in PICU. These cases appear to be more common in young children who did not receive in-utero vaccination.

​A guideline from the South Thames Retrieval Service (STRS - based at the Evelina) is included below with recommendation for early escalation to PICU if children with pertussis are showing an increased or rising WCC due to the recognised high risk of morbidity and mortality from leucocytosis and organ failure. 

Public health recommendations are also in place for paediatric staff who work with pregnant women, neonates or infants to consider the need for booster vaccination to prevent nosocomial spread. Please discuss this with your local occupational health department. 

Please see the alert below from the Wessex & Thames Valley Paediatric Critical Care Network

The Thames Valley and Wessex Paediatric Critical Care Network have finalised a guideline pathway for the management of children with difficult IV access. This pathway offers suggestions for how to escalate issues with IV access based on the clinical need along with options for vein-finding adjuncts which may be of help. The pathway has space to be personalised for your Trust with contact numbers etc to make management of this issue easier in acute situations. This pathway will be supported by a difficult IV access practical study day which will be available later in the year. 

Find the new pathway here - www.piernetwork.org/DIVA