Come Join Us

  • Paediatric PEM Trainees

    In Wessex we recognise that working in Paediatric Emergency Medicine requires bespoke high level training. We have monthly regional training days for our PEM trainees, bringing together our RCPCH and RCEM trainees as well as our trainee ACPS from across the region to train together and become experts in delivering Paediatric Emergency Care.
     
    Our training days are hugely valuable and valued by all of our trainees. The cover clinical and non-clinical topics and every aspect of what it takes to excel in Paediatric Emergency Medicine. We focus on technical skills, emergency procedures, leadership and human factors training, mental health and adolescent care, inclusivity and diversity and explore how to develop teams, services, pathways and business cases. ​

    PEM Regional Training Dates

    2022-2023
    • 15th September 2022
    • 20th October 2022
    • 17th November 2022
    • 15th December 2022
    • 19th January 2023
    • 16th February 2023
    • 16th March 2023 - Training Programme Available 
    • 20th April 2023
    • 18th May 2023
    • 15th June 2023
    • 20th July 2023
    • 17th August 2023
    2023-2024
    • 21st September 2023
    • 19th October 2023
    • 16th November 2023
    • 21th December 2023
    • 18th January 2024
    • 15th February 2024
    • 21st March 2024
    • 18th April 2024
    • 16th May 2024
    • 20th June 2024
    • 18th July 2024
    • 15th August 2024
    'The Paediatric Trauma fellowship in Southampton’s Children’s ED is a combined out-of-programme post with designated non-clinical fellowship time in normal working hours and out-of-hours clinical work in the Children’s ED.  The clinical work is well-supported with consultant presence up to 10pm every day and often until midnight on weekdays.  There is a well-established education programme, and the middle grades are drawn from both RCEM and RCPCH (subspecialty trainees and general paediatric trainees) so there are plenty of opportunities to learn safely!

    In fellowship time, you are supported to lead on projects relating to improving trauma care in the department and in the wider hospital.  The role is very flexible and can be tailored to your particular interest, but it is easy to increase your experience to audit, governance processes and guideline development.  You will be supported to develop a project that will best serve your educational needs, and which will improve your portfolio across curriculum domains.'
    ​
    Louise Antony, Paediatric Emergency Department, PHUT

    ACP Trainees

    ​Under Construction
    Training in Portsmouth is fantastic! Not only do we have a large dynamic consultant team (PEM/paeds/consultant practitioners) we also have a growing team of qualified credentialled paediatric ACPs. Of our team of 8 ACPs four are qualified, 2 have just began their training, and the remaining 2 tACPs (including me) are 18 months from qualification. There are also 2 further dual field qualified ACPs who complete shifts within paeds as part of their regular rota. My Masters in Advanced practice has been fully funded by the trust and I have been well supported throughout by my line manager, who is a consultant practitioner with a wealth of experience, and my clinical supervisor who is a PEM consultant.

    ​Having so much experience around me has helped shape my journey and for me to get the best out of the programme. Being mentored by ACPs who have been through the process is invaluable, especially in the points of training when imposer syndrome takes hold, or you get portfolio fatigue. My journey began in 2019 with my history taking module, I transitioned through the history taking programme and the WECC ENP programme before joining the RCEM programme in September 2021. Now as a dedicated part of the ACP team we have monthly dedicated supervision and journal club.

    We have weekly Thursday teaching and the ability to attend multiple clinics, training sessions, and simulations. We have a progressive culture here in Portsmouth and are running several research programmes that we are passionate about. Conference attendance, QI, audit and self-development are all actively encouraged. Working within Wessex as a network opens lots of further opportunities. Portsmouth is not just my place of work, the people here are my family, my role is highly valued, and I my clinical input is respected. I could not think of a more beneficial place to train or to work.

    Carly Marie Snowdon, tACP2, Paediatric Emergency Department, PHUT

    RCEM PEM Trainees​

    ​Under Construction

    Fellowship Opportunities

    We offer some very exciting Senior Fellowship Opportunities in the Children’s Emergency Department at UHS. 
    The fellowship roles are on the dedicated CED middle grade rota. Fellows will deliver clinical time in CED developing their skills in Paediatric Emergency Medicine with dedicated time to develop skills in a specific area of fellowship focus. These include, but are not limited to:

    • Quality Improvement
    • Trauma 
    • Education 
    • Simulation 
    • Wellbeing 
    These posts are ideal for someone who has completed basic paediatric or EM training and is keen to develop further skills in Paediatric Emergency Medicine. We have a supportive consultant team to facilitate development of new skills and would also welcome applicants with wider plans for further acquisition of new skills or development of existing interests.

    The department is an exciting place to work and learn. We are a collocated Adult and Paediatric Major Trauma Centre and see approximately 30,000 children a year. The department sees a huge mix of presentations which include the full breadth of medical presentations, major and minor trauma, mental health presentations and safeguarding. 
    ​
    The team working in CED is hugely varied too. As well as PEM consultants from an RCPCH and an RCE background we work alongside adult EM consultants and General Paediatric consultants and Advanced Clinical Practitioners and Emergency Nurse Practitioners. Our trainees are made up a mixture of General Paediatric, Community Paediatric, Emergency Medicine and General Paediatric trainees as well as a mix of junior and senior fellows. This mixture means the department is rich in experience, knowledge and skills. 
    ​
    All members of the team are expected to contribute towards our extensive education programme. As well as teaching and learning opportunities you will also be able to actively participate in ongoing Research as part of our ongoing commitment to PERUKI and PEM research. You will be able to actively participate in quality improvement initiatives with a focus on your preferred area of interest and with support in building your skills, knowledge and leadership abilities. 

    Depending on your chosen are of interest your fellowship roles and responsibilities may include:
    Paediatric Trauma Fellowship
    As a Paediatric Trauma Fellow, alongside your clinical work in Children’s ED you will work as part of the Paediatric Major Trauma Service, developing aspects of Paediatric Trauma care at UHS. Clinically you will have the opportunity to develop your understanding of managing Paediatric Major trauma, develop your leadership skills and have opportunities to enhance your abilities with emergency procedures.
     
    In addition to your clinical work you will work alongside the wider trauma service at University Hospital Southampton. You will have the opportunity to work with Emergency, Critical, Surgical and in-patient teams looking after critically injured children and working with them to evaluate and improve different aspects of the service as a whole.
     
    The Trauma Fellowship offers trainees an excellent opportunity to develop a huge breadth of clinical, leadership and management skills in a busy Major Trauma Centre in a well supported team and environment.
    'The Paediatric Trauma fellowship in Southampton’s Children’s ED is a combined out-of-programme post with designated non-clinical fellowship time in normal working hours and out-of-hours clinical work in the Children’s ED.  The clinical work is well-supported with consultant presence up to 10pm every day and often until midnight on weekdays.  There is a well-established education programme, and the middle grades are drawn from both RCEM and RCPCH (subspecialty trainees and general paediatric trainees) so there are plenty of opportunities to learn safely!

    In fellowship time, you are supported to lead on projects relating to improving trauma care in the department and in the wider hospital.  The role is very flexible and can be tailored to your particular interest, but it is easy to increase your experience to audit, governance processes and guideline development.  You will be supported to develop a project that will best serve your educational needs, and which will improve your portfolio across curriculum domains.'
    Quality Improvement Fellow
    As a Quality Improvement Fellow you will have the opportunity to develop the skills required to lead on making healthcare safer, more effective, patient centred, timely and efficient. As well as working as part of the clinical team in Children’s ED and developing your acute paediatric and trauma skills, you will also be encouraged to lead on Quality Improvement activity within the department as well as leading your own project.
     
    You will have the opportunity to participate in our monthly INQuIRE (Innovation Quality Improvement and Research) meeting, presenting aspects of QI methodology and updating the team on your own project progress. This will give you the opportunity to work alongside the research teams and have an overview of all the current Quality Improvement work in the department.
     
    The Quality Improvement Fellowship offers trainees an excellent opportunity to develop a greater understanding of QI methodology, to run your own project and be involved in departmental QI management in a well supported environment. 
    Simulation Fellow
    As a Simulation Fellow you will have the opportunity to develop the simulation leadership skills to effectively run individual simulation training as well as the management skills to run a comprehensive and curriculum mapped simulation programme.
     
    We run a robust simulation programme in the Children’s Emergency Department within our extensive education activity, and, as our Simulation Fellow we invite you to lead on running the simulation programme for the whole team.
     
    In addition to the individual simulation sessions we have a huge commitment to sharing the learning points for the whole team. Summaries of learning points from each simulation are prepared to share in the weekly NERD for anyone who was unable to attend the session.
     
    We recognise the value of simulated learning for ensuring high quality emergency care and invite your creativity and innovation to the well-established programme. The Simulation Fellowship offers trainees an excellent opportunity to develop their Simulation and management experience in a well-supported environment. 
    Education Fellow
    As an Education Fellow you will have the opportunity to participate in our extensive education programme within the department is the envy of many other departments.  You are invited to lead on aspects of the programme that interest you, participate in the delivery of education and encouraged to develop new elements of the overall programme.
     
    As well as daily teaching, we run regular education forums and meetings, specific procedure and resus training and more. We encourage all initiatives to be multi-disciplinary to sit alongside our commitment to shared learning and joined up working. We welcome new initiatives, creativity and innovation and are committed to continuously improving the programme of educational activity we offer.
     
    We are committed to providing high quality, varied, multi-disciplinary education on a regular basis for the whole team. We recognise the impact of education and training on team morale and put a high value on supporting all the staff that make up our team with their learning needs. The Education Fellowship offers trainees an excellent opportunity to develop Education skills and management experience in a well supported environment. 
    Wellbeing Fellow
    We are offering a hugely innovative opportunity for a Wellbeing Fellowship in our Children’s Emergency Department. Our department has a unique approach to wellbeing, and it is embedded within our daily practice.
     
    As well as monthly Wellbeing sessions for the team, we run Reflective Supervision with the psychology team, we have TRiM practitioners within the department, participate in daily Action for Happiness activities and even run a Breakfast Club for staff wellbeing. We also review our Favourable Event Reporting Forms (FERFs) to ensure a continued focus on learning from excellence as a team.
     
    We invite you to join the Wellbeing team and develop your own initiatives with a focus on staff welfare, a supportive work environment that values its team and a scientific approach to Wellbeing. The Wellbeing Fellowship offers trainees a unique experience to develop Wellbeing initiatives and develop management skills in a well supported environment.
    The Paediatric Wellbeing Fellowship is a one year out-of-programme post which combines clinical out-of-hours Paediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) shifts with designated non-clinical time focused on improving staff wellbeing within the department.

    The department is the single point of access for all children attending the hospital meaning there is huge variety in the presentations seen, from minor injuries to GP referrals to major trauma. You are well supported during your clinical work by the consultant team and there is an established education programme, including regular simulation sessions, giving further opportunities to develop both your clinical and teaching skills.

    During the fellowship time there is opportunity to develop new staff wellbeing initiatives as well as support those already running, both within the department and the wider Trust setting. The role is flexible and so you can explore areas of wellbeing where you have a particular interest and start new initiatives related to them.
    ​
    The combination of the clinical and non-clinical aspects of the role means you are able to develop your portfolio across the breadth of the curriculum which is valuable for your on-going professional development.

  • RCPCH Training Lead

    Under Construction

    RCEM Training Lead

    Under Construction

    ACP Training Lead

    Under Construction
  • The Wessex Area​
    Under Construction
    Queen Alexandra Hospital (QAH) Portsmouth
    We have loads to offer when it comes to teaching here at the QAH Paediatric Emergency Department. 

    Departmental teaching:

    Our locally run weekly teaching session on hot topics within PED. With a flexible trainee lead programme, we’ve had teaching from specialists covering new guidelines, refreshers of basics, SHO delivered teaching on areas of personal interest, safeguarding and much more. 

    Simulation training

    Teaming up with our general paeds colleagues, on alternate weeks, all trainees have the opportunity to join the simulation sessions on common and high risk scenarios. All sessions are run with high quality simulation equipment in the HDU areas of the paediatric ward and PED. If SIM is your thing, there will also be opportunity to help run the sessions. 

    Morbidity & Mortality
    ​
    In PED at QAH, we strongly believe in the ‘learn not blame’ culture. As part of our continued commitment to staff support, education and clear governance, we have regular monthly M&M meetings along with our general paediatrics colleges.  We strive to promote reflection, learning and systems change where needed.
    University Hospital Southampton (UHS)
    ​We are committed to high quality education for all of our trainees in the Children’s Emergency Department at University Hospital Southampton. We have a huge variety of educational opportunities on offer which reflect the variety of trainees that we support in the department.
     
    Our education programme is brimming with all sorts of offerings designed to inspire the whole team as well as to help meet curriculum needs. We work hard to maximise attendance at meetings by enabling trainees to attend sessions during paid work time.
     
    There really is something for everyone. Take a look and see what is on offer:
    Room of Requirement Teaching Programme
    ​Our Room of Requirement Teaching Programme runs every morning after handover. Daily focused teaching on all subjects related to Paediatric Emergency Medicine delivered by and for the whole team. We all contribute to these 15 minute sessions that cover anything from guideline overviews to interesting cases, focused examination skills to topic summaries. A great way for us all to learn and keep up to date!
    Resus Run Sessions
    In our Resus Run sessions we look at how we would prepare for incoming emergency cases. A huge part of our role as the Emergency Department team is using any pre-alert time well, so we mission rehearse this on a regular basis. Using different scenarios presented in an ATMIST format, we discuss as a team all the different things we would need to consider before the patient arrives in the department. ​
    Paediatric Simulation Programme
    Our weekly Paediatric Simulation Programme is a great way for the team to learn together. As well as focusing on key clinical components of care, we explore the human factors impact on emergency care and consider how we learn from these challenges. We use these sessions to update ourselves on guideline changes and up-skill the whole team.
    Skills and Drills
    It is so important to regularly rehearse uncommon emergency practical procedures to ensure when we do need to do them, we are confident and competent. We have regular sessions built in to our education programme to run through everything from IO to using the defib, from chest drains to surgical airways. As well as running through the technicality of the procedure we also make sure we are familiar with the indications and contraindications as well as all the necessary equipment. ​
    Safeguarding
    ​Safeguarding is an important part of everything we do in Children’s ED. It is so important that we are all up to date with local policies and procedures. We have a fortnightly drop-in session facilitated by the Safeguarding Nursing Team to help with this. The highly specialised team come to the department every two weeks and run an open forum session for the whole team to drop in and ask questions, follow up on cases, explore recent issues and reflect on our safeguarding practices. It is also a great way to ensure the clinical team in CED have a fantastic working relationship with our safeguarding team
    Reflective Supervision
    ​Working in Children’s Emergency Medicine does have its challenges. Recognising this is an important first step but what can we do to look after our team and ensure we have a safe space to explore any difficulties. We have fortnightly sessions facilitated by our psychology team specifically for the team in the Children’s Emergency Department. These sessions are for the junior members of the medical and nursing team and occur in paid time. The enable time to explore any issues as a group of professionals and also mean that our team have a brilliant relationship with our psychology team for those times when more intensive or one to one support is required. These sessions are just one part of our Wellbeing initiatives in the department.
    Keep CAMHS and Carry On
    We manage a huge variety of CAMHS presentations in our Children’s Emergency Department in conjunction with our in-patient General Paediatric team, the CAMHS liaison service based within the department and our local CAMHS community teams. As such, we have a monthly CAMHS forum that brings healthcare professionals from these different teams together to discuss learning from recent cases, discuss guidelines and pathways and explore the medico-legal aspects of this care as a group. It is a fantastic way to understand the different perspectives and challenges from across the teams and means that we have developed excellent working relationships with all those involved in delivering CAMHS care for our patients. ​
    Safeguarding Forum
    Safeguarding underpins everything we do in our Children’s Emergency Department. We have a join monthly Safeguarding Forum for the team in Children’s ED and the General Paediatric team to peer review cases, reviewing learning and reflections and keep ourselves up to date with changes in policy and procedure. Learning from each other and the breadth of cases we have collectively managed is an excellent way to ensure good practice. 
    Packed Lunch Meeting
    Our monthly Packed Lunch meeting is brimming with all sorts of useful information and updates. In this meeting, designed for the typical ED concentration span, we cover lots of bite-sized morsels for the whole team. As well as reviewing our monthly data of attendances, admissions, critical care cases and times to triage for example, we also run a mini journal club, have an interesting case report, a Hot Topic update and review important departmental news and updates. It’s a great way to tick off some curriculum items and a fun way to keep updated!
    Wellbeing Initiatives
    Wellbeing has never been more important than it is now. We have a huge range of Wellbeing initiatives in the department to ensure we can look after our team. One of the main pillars of the various things on offer is our monthly Wellbeing sessions facilitated by our Wellbeing Consultant lead and our psychology team. These sessions help us explore the science behind different wellbeing strategies and measures. Having an understanding of the science and psychology behind our different initiatives helps us put them in to practice in our daily lives and is an incredibly valuable component of team building and care. 
    ​Major trauma M&M
    In our monthly multidisciplinary Major trauma M&M, we review all cases of Paediatric Major trauma that have been admitted to our Major Trauma centre in the previous  month. Coming together with all the surgical sub-speciality and critical care teams helps us to consider any areas of excellent practice as well as any areas for improvement as a whole system. We work closely with our pre-hospital colleagues as well as with our rehab teams to ensure we are providing the very best care from Roadside to Rehab. 
    Joint Medical M&M 
    In our monthly joint medical M&M we review a range of interesting medical cases and what we can learn from them. We look at cases that resulted in PICU admissions, interesting diagnoses, complex cases and those with significant morbidity. Learning together as a team helps us to identify what we did well and any areas we can try and improve. 
    INQuIRE Meetings
    Curiosity and a commitment to participating in local, regional and national research form one of the pillars of our Children’s Emergency Department. As well as actively taking part in multicenter studies and our affiliation with PERUKI, we also run lots of local and regional projects as well. Our monthly INQuIRE meeting allows us to delve into these studies in more detail so that the whole team understands why we are doing the trial and what its aims are. It also gives us an opportunity to find out about the outcomes of studies we have been involved with and highlight the important innovation and QI work that goes on within the department all the time. The meeting is a great way to inspire, learn more about research and QI and get more involved!
    NERD (News Education Resources and Departmental Updates) Newsletter ​​
    ​The NERD (News Education Resources and Departmental Updates) Newsletter is a great way to keep on top of all the educational offerings in the department. Sent out every Friday to the whole team it is a great way to catch up on education and learning points you may have missed during the week and look ahead to what is coming up next week. It features a guideline of the week, highlights of important meetings, changes in the department and any important lessons or learning points for the whole team. Thankfully it summarises all the important information from emails during the week so it really is your one-stop-shop for everything you need to know!
    Clinical Educator shifts ​​
    We offer regular Consultant Clinical Educator shifts in Children’s ED. These Consultant shifts mean that there is a consultant dedicated to the educational needs of the trainees in the department on that day. These are a great way to ensure you are able to complete work based assessments in a hassle free way and make the most of time dedicated to shop floor education. 
    Chief Fellow shifts​​
    There is nothing like getting to rehearse being a Consultant before you actually become one! We offer Chief Fellow shifts for our Senior PEM trainees to give them the opportunity to run a shift as the Emergency Physician in Charge (EPIC) in a supported way. You will have a chance to run the department, attend departmental huddles, work with the Nurse in Charge to manage flow and patient journeys and do all the other things you will need to do when you are a Consultant! The opportunity comes with support throughout the shift and a debrief and time for reflections once it is complete.

  • Paediatric Trainees

    Under Construction

    RCEM Trainees

    Under Construction

    Fellowship Opportunities

    Under Construction

Part of the Team

  • Wellbeing is at the centre of everything we do in the UHS Children's Emergency Department!

    Primarily we aim to get the basics right, working on things within our control. The rota is organised and flexible, we encourage everybody to take their breaks when on shift and book in their annual leave as soon as possible. We encourage exception reporting to highlight any issues. We run daily teaching sessions for all levels of the team and weekly lunchtime sessions covering important topics on a rotational basis. We focus on individual wellbeing in our daily handovers and finish these with the daily action for happiness calendar. 

    Then we go beyond this with a wide range of activities focused on wellbeing and getting the best our of ourselves and the team. We currently have a wellbeing fellow within the department who spends 30% of their time focused on wellbeing. Wellbeing is included in the lunchtime teaching sessions and has the same status as the M&M meeting or safeguarding on the 1st Thursday of every month. These sessions focus on practical tools and the science behind wellbeing to convert even the most sceptical of the team with the evidence base behind some suggestions. Some of these activities are included in this section of the website. These sessions are open to all in the region to attend. 

    Through all of this we have the support of the clinical psychologist and run regular psychological supervision sessions for the medical, nursing and allied professional teams. These provide a confidential safe space in which worries, and stressors can be discussed and addressed. The motivation behind this is that we recognise within Emergency Medicine there is exposure to multiple minor trauma events. While we also have strong structures in place if a significant event happens with our TRiM team and structured debrief tools developed in house it is sometimes not these ‘big’ things which lead to burnout or overwhelm. Therefore, in the wellbeing check in’s and psychological supervision we provide peer spaces to address these minor trauma’s. 
    ​
    One of the most important determiners of wellbeing is a sense of connection. We run regular social events which occur both in the evening’s focusing on nights out and dinners, as well as encouraging another aspect of wellbeing by having team ‘Park Run’ events followed by picnic breakfasts. We have a book swap corner and have themed events such as the CED advent calendar which run at appropriate times of the year.  

  • PDPs

    Under Construction

  • Practice Educators

    My name is Marvi, I am the practice educator for children’s ED. I started my nursing career working on the paediatric assessment unit. When the assessment unit merged with the children’s emergency department (CED) in 2019 I was open to a new challenge and have not looked back since. I have always had an interest in teaching and enjoyed working with students therefore when the opportunity for a practice educator in CED came up I was thrilled.
     
    Within my role I am required to carry out statutory and mandatory training courses across the division as well as courses created for the emergency department. I work closely with junior members of the team ensuring that they feel supported, shop floor teaching and creating a personal development plan tailored to them. As the link for health care support workers (HCSW) within the division I have a special interest in supporting their career progression onto further education or on the job training.
     
    Some of my immediate goals for the role include working closely with the band 7 team to highlight training needs in the department and creating teaching courses based on these needs. Developing a CED advanced programme aimed at our senior nurses to cement and broaden their existing knowledge and organising regular welcome mornings for our student nurses.

    Marvi Kesinro, UHS CED

Moving on up

  • Wessex Trained Consultants

  • Career Opportunities

    Under Construction

Innovation
  • Posters
    Have a look at some of the fantastic projects our PEM trainees have completed during their time in training in Wessex!  A brilliant array of topics that have been presented locally, nationally and regionally!  Having dedicated time for personal development and innovation within your paid work time means you can get stuck in to exciting projects and start changing the world!
    Audits
    Under Construction
    Articles and Publications
    Under Construction
    Quality Improvement
    Under Construction
  • Active Projects, QI and Audits
    Education
    How Do I Do It?

    Quality Improvement Resources

    Poster Top Tips

    Presentation Guide

    Get out there! Platforms for your work to be recognised
  • How you can help: Projects that need Team Mates
    Elevator Pitch: Got an interesting idea? 

Education
  • PEM Regional Training Days

    About

    Programmes

    2022/2023 Cohort

    Date
    Location
    ​Programme
    15th September 2022
    20th October 2022
    17th November 2022
    ​15th December 2022
    ​19th January 2023
    Value
    ​16th February 2023
    ​16th March 2023
    ​20th April 2023
    ​18th May 2023
    ​15th June 2023
    ​20th July 2023
    ​17th August 2023

    Feedback

    Training in Portsmouth is fantastic! Not only do we have a large dynamic consultant team (PEM/paeds/consultant practitioners) we also have a growing team of qualified credentialled paediatric ACPs. Of our team of 8 ACPs four are qualified, 2 have just began their training, and the remaining 2 tACPs (including me) are 18 months from qualification. There are also 2 further dual field qualified ACPs who complete shifts within paeds as part of their regular rota. My Masters in Advanced practice has been fully funded by the trust and I have been well supported throughout by my line manager, who is a consultant practitioner with a wealth of experience, and my clinical supervisor who is a PEM consultant. Having so much experience around me has helped shape my journey and for me to get the best out of the programme. Being mentored by ACPs who have been through the process is invaluable, especially in the points of training when imposer syndrome takes hold, or you get portfolio fatigue. My journey began in 2019 with my history taking module, I transitioned through the history taking programme and the WECC ENP programme before joining the RCEM programme in September 2021. Now as a dedicated part of the ACP team we have monthly dedicated supervision and journal club. We have weekly Thursday teaching and the ability to attend multiple clinics, training sessions, and simulations. We have a progressive culture here in Portsmouth and are running several research programmes that we are passionate about. Conference attendance, QI, audit and self-development are all actively encouraged. Working within Wessex as a network opens lots of further opportunities. Portsmouth is not just my place of work, the people here are my family, my role is highly valued, and I my clinical input is respected. I could not think of a more beneficial place to train or to work.

    ​    Carly Marie Snowdon, tACP2, Paediatric Emergency Department, PHUT
    ​
    Secondment Ideas

    Links to the Google Sheet

    Regional Courses

    Paediatric Trauma Team Training

    This one day course has been designed to improve Paediatric Trauma Team performance and the care of critically injured children in Wessex. 

    The course focuses on multi-disciplinary team training day exploring practical skills, team roles, leadership and the practicalities of managing paediatric major trauma.  The day is a mixture of case discussions, practical skills and team simulation, offering a comprehensive learning experience for the whole team.

    Hospitals across Wessex Trauma Network are invited to submits a complete trauma team to attend the day so they can learn and practice new skills together. This course is suitable for all healthcare professionals involved in the delivery of paediatric major trauma. Your hospital will be asked to provide a minimum of the following team members:
    • ED team leader 
    • ED doctor 
    • 2 ED nurses 
    • Trauma anaesthetist 
    • ODP 
    • General surgeon 
    • Paediatric doctor
    • ​Paediatric nurse 

    Paediatric Procedural Sedation

    This one day course aims to give clinicians working in Paediatric Emergency Medicine the knowledge and skills to safely and effectively manage procedural sedation for children.

    The comprehensive course content covers pain in children, the specific considerations of sedation in children and the practicalities of delivering sedation safely. 

    We explore the indications and contraindications of procedural sedation using our regional pathway. The day is delivered as a mixture of group discussions and reflections, lectures and simulation, to ensure a high quality learning experience for all. 

    ​The course is suitable for CT3 trainees, RCPCH and RCEM PEM trainees and senior fellows and all bands of nursing staff working in Paediatric Emergency Care.
    RCEM Specific
    RCPCH Specific
    Wessex Deanery offers fantastic RCPCH Paediatric Emergency Medicine training with a huge variety of clinical opportunities as well as those in education, research, improvement and management. The regional training programme is designed to help you meet curriculum needs in supportive environments while ensuring you are part of a thriving and growing collaborative regional PEM community. 

    The RCPCH PEM training programme consists of a 2 year programme that includes 18 months of Paediatric Emergency Medicine and 6 months of Paediatric Intensive Care Training. The Paediatric Emergency Medicine clinical placements are split between the Children’s Emergency Departments at University Hospital Southampton and Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth.  
    ​
    Day time activity during the Emergency Medicine placements will be split between working in CED and undertaking secondment time in relevant surgical and orthopaedic departments to meet competencies as set out in the RCPCH PEM Progress Curriculum. The rotas on both sites are built to ensure an excellent split between acute clinical care learning opportunities and time for secondment learning that can be tailored to the individual’s training needs.
    University Hospital Southampton Children's Emergency Department
    University Hospital Southampton CED is a large busy department which sees around 30000 children a year. Since September 2019 it has been a single front door department seeing those who self present as well as GP referrals and open access patients. It is the regional Paediatric Major Trauma Centre for the South Coast for both Adult and Paediatric patients. Southampton is the region’s tertiary referral centre so trainees will have opportunities to manage complex tertiary patient who present through the single front door of the hospital. We have a Paediatric Short Stay Unit within the CED footprint which is jointly managed by the CED and General Paediatric teams. 

    The department has a dedicated Paediatric Emergency Department team consisting of RCPCH and RCEM PEM Consultants ensuring an excellent and well supported training experience. The CED team also work very closely with the co-located Adult Emergency Department team and the General Paediatric Team as well.
    Queen Alexandra Hospital Children's Emergency Department
    The Paediatric Emergency Department at Queen Alexandra sees around 25,000 children annually, up to the age of 18 years. The unit is co-located with the adult ED and is open 24/7. It is a very busy Trauma Unit with strong military links and the team are well supported by a full range of surgical specialties all of whom see children. These include surgery, urology, orthopaedics, ENT, MaxFax, gynaecology and ophthalmology. 

    The hospital also has a busy Children’s Assessment Unit which is the main entry route for GP referrals and non-trauma ambulance admissions. As such a large proportion of the CED workload is minor and major trauma, providing an ideal training opportunity. 

    The department has a dedicated Paediatric Emergency Department team consisting of RCPCH and RCEM PEM Consultants who also work closely with the Adult Emergency Medicine and General Paediatric teams for invaluable training. The department has a strong Advanced Clinical Practitioner team who are central to the training and delivery of care in the department.
    ​
    Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Southampton
    The Paediatric Intensive Care Unit covers the Wessex Region and Thames Valley for cardiac cases and retrieval. The Department is run by PICU Consultants with additional consultant input provided by the sub-specialist teams within the hospital. Middle grade cover is provided by trainees who are from an anesthetic or pediatric background. PEM trainees will have opportunities to attend Resus calls as part of the Crash Call system, will be supported gaining retrieval experience and be encouraged to improve practical procedure skills during this post. 

    Our Paediatric Intensive Care placement for Grid Training is designed to specifically recognise and support the training needs of our PEM trainees from an RCPCH and RCEM background, to ensure all necessary competencies and curriculum items are addressed.
    General Information
    PEM Grid trainees will be expected to maintain their portfolio, mapped to PEM competencies. They will be supported in this by regular meetings with their educational supervisor. They will have opportunities to supervise junior members of medical and nursing staff and medical students. They will have exposure to all aspects of paediatric emergency care from major trauma and illness, interesting advances in PEM such as procedural sedation and Point of Care Ultrasound through to minor wound care and minor illness.

    Trainees will have exposure to a wide range of ED presentations including both major and minor trauma and illness. We treat patients up to their 18th birthday which provides the opportunity to manage adolescent mental health, recreational drug use and early pregnancy presentations also. There are opportunities to work alongside the CAMHS in-reach liaison services based within our Children’s Emergency Departments as well as alongside the No Limits charity Youth Workers who also work alongside the teams, giving an excellent opportunity to develop Adolescent Emergency Medicine skills. 
    Chief Fellow Role
    Trainees will have the opportunity to act up as Chief Fellow towards the end of the training, taking on the role of running the shop floor, attending departmental meetings and huddles, managing flow within Children’s Emergency Departments, as well as taking responsibility for checking results, running handovers and managing staffing and resources, while supported by a Consultant. 
    Departmental Education
    The departments all run very active teaching timetables. Our trainees are expected to fully engage with this programme both as learners but also to be an active part of the teaching faculty. Education on offer includes regular simulation training, journal clubs, Mortality and Morbidity meetings, Xray meetings and Grand Rounds. The range of educational opportunities is varied, plentiful and aims to cover PEM curriculum items throughout placements. ​
    Regional Training
    In addition to strong and regular departmental teaching across the three areas we also run monthly regional bespoke PEM training for our RCPCH and RCEM PEM trainees and our regional PEM ACP trainees. These days are built into rotas to ensure trainees can attend. The training days are a rolling 2 year programme covering the PEM curriculum as well as higher level leadership and management skills specifically aimed at our senior PEM trainees, to help in preparation for Consultant roles. 

    There are also additional regional training opportunities with region. Trainees are also able to attend the regional paediatric training programme (PREP) and the regional Emergency Medicine teaching programme (WREMTA) during their study leave. 
    Improvement Work
    Trainees will be expected to participate in an audit or quality improvement project and will have personal development time built in to their rotas for this. There is scope for the development of local and regional guidelines and pathways, giving trainees the opportunity to lead on collaborative cross-site work, improving the care we provide across the region.
    Management Opportunities
    Trainees will have the opportunity to have their own leadership and management roles within the departments, gaining experience with complaint management, education, and governance opportunities as well as being able to attend departmental management meetings, working closely with consultant support. 
    Research
    Trainees will be given the opportunity to actively recruit into trials running within the departments. All three areas work closely with their Research departments and there are excellent opportunities to get involved with current projects and trials.  ​

    Link to PREP on PIER

    START Resources

  • Subject Summaries
    Skills and Drills
    One Page Wonders
  • PIER Guidelines
    Wessex Healthier Togethter
    Courses and Conferences
    Websites
    Apps
    Podcasts
    Books
  • Medical Students
    MDT
    Shop Floor
    Primary Care
    Pre-Hospital

  • Emergency Nurse Practitioner (ENP)

    To become an Emergency Nurse Practitioner (ENP), you will need to apply for the Wessex Emergency Care Collaborative (WECC) programme. WECC was started in 2009 by Emergency Nurse Consultant, Anne Welling, to standardise the training for Emergency Nurse Practitioners (ENP) across the Wessex region. The 12-month programme comprises of study days and hands on learning, which will enable you to competently manage children presenting in CED with minor injuries and or illnesses autonomously. You will need at least 3 years of experience working in CED to qualify. Life Support courses, Safeguarding, PGD competence, minor injury skills (i.e., plastering, suturing) are also essential. ​

    The study days are taught in-house across the different hospitals in the Wessex region, which provides you the opportunity to meet other trainees in your programme and share your experiences with them. The programme requires passing OSCEs and X-ray interpretation, in addition to providing a clinical portfolio as evidence of your continuing professional development, as part of the assessment process. Practitioner trainees are allocated a minimum of 22.5 hours a week to work alongside various senior members of the practitioner and medical team to ensure you gain your clinical knowledge in a safe and supportive environment.  Upon completion, University modules such as HTPA, DADMs and Prescribing, are also accessible for career development.

Research
  • Research we've championed

    Paediatric PEM Trainees

    RCEM PEM Trainees

    Fellowship Opportunities

    We follow the evidence (our practice changes)

    Regional Journal Club

  • Subject Summaries
    Skills and Drills
    One Page Wonders
  • PERUKI

    PEM Specific Journals

    GCP
    Keeping Up To Date

    Our Favourite Journals

    Don't Forgot the Bubbles! 

    Social Media

    Help! I am no good at this!

    'How to' Guides

    Informal Peer Support

  • Planned Projects
    Elevator Pitch: Got an Interesting Idea?

Conference 2023
Early Bird Prices
Nursing/ Medical Student                
Nurse
AHPs 
Registrar/Speciality Doctor                   
​Consultant/Associate Specialist 
£10
£75
£100
£125
​£150
​!!!ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS OPEN NOW!!!Abstract Submissions are now open.  Visit our Submission page for more details and the link to upload your submissions.

All abstracts must be submitted by 24th May 2023.
The Wessex Deanery PEM community are proud to announce the UK's first conference dedicated to Paediatric Emergency Medicine and Trauma.

We invite you to come along to our two day extravaganza and celebrate our incredible specialty with us. Come and network, learn, challenge and update yourself with an interesting and varied programme that is relevant for the whole multi-disciplinary team. 

With clinical topics covering blast injuries to the management of non-epileptic seizures and to pregnancy and non clinical topics from decision making, moral injury and survivorship, there really is something for everyone!

With speakers from around the country we will highlight the fantastic PEM community around the UK, and the talent, skill and interest of all those working in or allied to Paediatric Emergency Medicine.

It's innovative, interactive, informed, illuminating and inclusive!

Buffet and Bubbles

​

​We will be hosting an exciting social event on the first day of the conference so don't miss out! More information coming soon!
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A sneak peek at what to expect... more to be announced
Day One -
​PEM Medicine

Managing non-epileptic events in ED

Guidelines and Updates: BRUE management

Prolonged seizures; waking in the ED

Anaphylaxis Update

Adolescent Gynaecology in the ED

Approach to the metabolic child in ED

Fever <3 months; what's the latest research?

Immunology update

Repeated deliberate ingestion of foreign bodies

Decision Making and managing risk in the ED
Day Two -
​PEM Trauma

Facial Injury in Major Trauma

Neurosurgical decision making in the ED

Traumatic Cardiac Arrest

Stealth Trauma and NAI

Penetrating Chest Injuries

Blast Injury

Bleeding in Trauma

Trauma Survivorship
​
Trauma in Pregnancy

Moral Injury

Reflective Supervision
We will be inviting abstracts for poster and spotlight sessions soon.
Contact: [email protected]