RCPCH Podcasts
Health inequalities are widening in paediatrics. Those that are more disadvantaged experience more safety issues whilst in health care. If we can make our healthcare systems more equitable for the children and young people we can for, they will be safer in our care. In episode 5 of our series on paediatric patient safety, we speak with Dr Helen Stewart, Dr Cian Wade and Dr Mimi Malhotra to explore how patient safety and health inequalities are inextricably linked. Tackling healthcare inequalities can improve safety and vice versa. Dr Stewart shares her knowledge and experience as...
info_outline Patient safety 4 - Involving children, young people and their families in making healthcare saferRCPCH Podcasts
It is imperative that children and young people are central to the co-design and co-production of our patient safety improvement interventions. In this episode, we speak with Dr Jane Runnacles, consultant paediatrician at St. George's Hospital, and Dr Victoria Dublon, paediatric diabetes consultant at the Royal Free Hospital. Both are champions of improvement work that puts the young person and their needs first. As Jane and Victoria describe, involving children, young people and their families in improvement work improves the experience and outcome for all involved. There are fantastic...
info_outline Patient safety 3 - How do we improve how we learn from harm?RCPCH Podcasts
It is not enough just to collect data on harm occurring to children in healthcare settings. We need the data to be robust, comparable across the NHS and for it to be transformed into effective, meaningful changes in outcome. In episode 3 of our series on paediatric patient safety, we speak with Dr Damian Roland, a paediatric emergency medicine clinician scientist and head of service for the Children's Emergency Department at Leicester Royal Infirmary. As Damian discusses on the podcast, in order to learn from harm and prevent it occurring again we need to collect data and investigate what is...
info_outline Patient safety 2 - If we are psychologically safe, children are safer in our careRCPCH Podcasts
Psychological safety in healthcare settings is the condition in which you feel included, safe to learn, safe to contribute and safe to challenge the status quo - without fear of being embarrassed, marginalised or punished. And it's an essential foundation in building a safety culture. Individually, feeling psychologically safe improves performance and innovation, while feeling unsafe reduces productivity and harms retention. In a highly productive team, it is about feeling safe to take risks, to learn from each other and to feel resilient and able to tackle the difficult and varying challenges...
info_outline Patient safety 1 - How can we build a culture of safety in paediatric healthcare?RCPCH Podcasts
Healthcare is inherently risky and so as child health professionals we need to make patient safety a priority in all our actions. We need to think about safety all the time. In episode 1 of our series on paediatric patient safety, we speak with Dr Peter Lachman, who develops and delivers programmes for clinical leaders in quality improvement at the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin. As Peter explains on the podcast, we healthcare professionals need to know patient safety theory - but, more importantly, we need to know how to apply it, drive improvement and create a workplace culture...
info_outline The state of digital child health today - an interview with Professor Sam ShahRCPCH Podcasts
Richard Burley, Executive Director of Digital talks with Professor Shah about how digital technology can support child health, and how paediatricians can embrace it - with a dose of healthy scepticism. Professor Sam Shah is Chief Medical Strategy Officer at men's health company, Numan, and Honorary Lecturer at University College London's Global Business School for Health. He spoke at RCPCH Conference 2023 with a session titled, 'Could healthcare technology address the challenges in child health? Richard Burley here at the College was fortunate to be in the audience and invited Sam to discuss...
info_outline Shift the dial on climate change and health inequalitiesRCPCH Podcasts
Climate change poses an existential risk to child health and is exacerbating health inequalities. But, paediatricians can play an important role in sharing information and advocating for action. Dr Helen Stewart and Dr Alex Lemaigre introduce the College’s new toolkit for paediatricians. Our first tool helps you understand how climate change impacts on children and young people’s health and exacerbates health inequalities. And our second equips you to influence climate change policy locally, regionally and nationally. Alex and Helen talk about why paediatricians have a role in addressing...
info_outline How to build a paediatricianRCPCH Podcasts
Talking about the intentionality behind what the College does to train and support paediatricians: RCPCH Vice President for Training and Assessment, Dr Cathryn Chadwick interviews Trainees Committee Chair, Dr Emma Dyer. Our outlines four strategic aims to support our mission of improving health outcomes for children and young people. In this series we look at our College Strategy in action. Hearing stories from clinicians, children and young people and staff about the impact our work has made on the community and within paediatric clinical practice. In this episode we learn about what it...
info_outline Wellbeing as paediatricians - creating environments where we can thrive at workRCPCH Podcasts
Two paediatricians share thoughts around vulnerability, compassion and belonging at work. Jess and Anna talk about brave spaces, the importance (and limits) of self-care and those "small moments of human connection". Dr Jess Morgan is a paediatrician and working as a Dinwoodie RCPCH Fellow on an exciting new project, Thrive Paediatrics, which aims to create meaningful change in the working lives of paediatricians. She speaks with Dr Anna Baverstock, a consultant paediatrician at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. Find out more about Thrive Paediatrics on the RCPCH website at . We're...
info_outline Conversations with policy makers - with Dame Andrea Leadsom MPRCPCH Podcasts
In a first for our podcasts, we delve into the world of government and parliament. RCPCH President Camilla Kingdon speaks with Dame Andrea Leadsom MP, Conservative Member of Parliament for South Northamptonshire about her experiences of advocating for infant and child health. Dame Andrea wants every baby to have the best start in life - a message shared by the College. She chaired the Government's Early Years Healthy Development Review and its March 2021 report, The best start for life, a vision for the 1001 critical days, outlines areas for action to improve the health outcomes of all babies...
info_outlineIn this first of a podcast series from the Medicines for Children team, we speak with Fiona, a young person with epilepsy, and her mum, Karen. It's an honest and lively discussion from their fear at first diagnosis to working out the right medication, to learning to live well with the condition.
The Medicines for Children team is pleased to share this first episode in a series of podcasts on epilepsy. With thanks to a grant from the Alison Hillman charitable trust, the podcasts will aim to improve the resources available for young people with epilepsy.
We publish this episode just before Purple Day this Sunday, 26 March, an annual international event dedicated to increasing awareness of epilepsy.
Evalyn Usher, a medical student who interned with the Medicines for Children team in summers 2021 and 2022, interviewed Fiona and Karen. Fiona was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was 11 years old. Her seizures have no obvious trigger and she's tried different anti-epileptic drugs to manage these, and help her live a full and sociable life. Her mum, Karen was at first worried about the misconceptions and stigma around epilepsy, the 'terrifying seizures' and how the condition would affect her daughter's future. But now she's learned more and what to do.
It's a fascinating discussion, and we hope it's both reassuring and inspiring to families.
More about the podcast
Fiona was diagnosed with epilepsy at around 11 years of age, which is much later than for some children, and her seizures have no obvious trigger – Fiona doesn’t know when she is going to have one. Fiona has tried five or six different anti-epileptic drugs and is currently taking two. Whilst these have not stopped her seizures altogether, they have reduced the frequency. Nevertheless, it is clear from the podcast that Fiona lives a full and sociable life.
As an “older mum”, Karen was initially worried about the misconceptions and stigma that used to surround epilepsy and how the diagnosis might affect Fiona’s future. She is frank about how difficult she found the diagnosis and the period when Fiona had frequent seizures and they were trying different medicines. While she described early seizures as “terrifying”, and the fear of not knowing when one might happen, she has learnt to cope, and is now more matter of fact because she knows what is happening and what to do.
Fiona’s strategy has always been to be open about her epilepsy. In primary year 7 she did a presentation to her class explaining different types of epilepsy and what to do if someone has a seizure. Fiona is now active in the RCPCH Epilepsy12 Youth Advocates and is keen to increase awareness of epilepsy among children and young people, and to develop suitable information leaflets, as existing information is mostly for young children and adults. Fiona also wants to raise awareness of epilepsy in schools, as well as the mental health issues that young people living with epilepsy may face; she talks about the valuable support she received from a clinical psychologist.
Fiona and her mum talk about practical measures they take: Fiona’s friends know she has epilepsy, and what to do if she has a seizure. Fiona always has her mobile phone with her and a medical alert bracelet with her Dad’s phone number. She also has an Epilepsy Seizure Plan that she can share with school and college for example.
Karen’s advice to parents of a child with epilepsy is to be open about the condition. She emphasizes the value of talking to friends, family and health professionals for support and to develop coping mechanisms. Fiona finds talking with other people who live with epilepsy very useful and supportive – and she counsels against scary stories on the internet!
We hope this podcast will be useful and reassuring to families living with epilepsy or who are adjusting to a new diagnosis. Fiona and Karen are honest about how they have learnt to live with the condition, which we hope will inspire other families.