Medicine24

The fourth annual Medicine 24 event was held on 13^th and 14^th September 2018, in the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. The popularity and size of the conference has led us to seek venues outside College, and the Concert Hall did not disappoint. Over two days we welcomed 350 delegates and 39 faculty members to a vibrant event, which provided a comprehensive update in acute medicine for the general physician. The programme covered a wide range of commonly occurring medical problems which the receiving physician sees on a regular basis, and gave state of the art education on best practice.

In addition to traditional platform presentations, this year a series of interactive workshops was run covering ECG interpretation, imaging, hypertension and NIV which have evaluated well. The information from the delegate feedback is crucial in planning the following year’s conference.

Our two keynote speakers were Professor Dame Parveen Kumar and Bernadette John. Professor Kumar gave an impassioned lecture entitled “Caring for the Profession” highlighting the important responsibility that healthcare professionals have to look after themselves and their colleagues. Bernadette John, a Consultant in Digital Professionalism gave us a sobering reminder of the pitfalls of Digital Media, as well as their undisputed benefits.

It’s clear from the support for Medicine 24 that we are providing a highly regarded educational event for the generalist. It has been my privilege to have been involved in the development of the conference and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the organising committee and College Education staff for their commitment and innovation. I am sure it will continue to go from strength to strength.

Save the date for Medicine 24 on 19^th and 20^th September 2019.

Listermania

On 17 April 2018 we celebrated 150 years since Joseph Lister delivered a public lecture on his theory of antiseptic surgery, in what is now the Alexandra Room of the College’s St Vincent Street building. Together with his articles in The Lancet of 1867, this lecture helped revolutionise medical science.

Our Listermania event celebrated this world-changing innovation, focusing on Lister and the city of Glasgow. The event allowed us to strongly connect our building, our members and our visitors, with this momentous piece of history. In addition, we channelled the important local context of Lister’s innovation, which begins with a story about care and compassion in difficult circumstances. Our event host was Greig Trout, founder of 101 Things to do when you survive and ambassador of the College’s HOPE Foundation.

The event was a culmination of a six month creative project with our Artist in Residence, the poet Marianne MacRae, supported by the Scottish Graduate School of Arts and Humanities. The residency allowed us to combine surgical history, medical science, poetry, drama, art and design – all which combined to make our heritage more accessible, engaging, and fun! The day began with a performance from P6 pupils from Garnetbank Primary School, who had been working with Marianne on a series of creative workshops.

The evening included readings from the poetry collection Marianne wrote during the residency – Joseph Lister is my New Flatmate. Pioneering transplant surgeon Pankaj Chandak (King's College London) showed us that Lister’s influence and inspiration is keenly felt by those at the vanguard of surgery and medicine in the 21st century. Finally, the audience were entertained by best-selling author Lindsey Fitzharris, discussing her award-winning book The butchering art: Joseph Lister’s quest to transform the grisly world of Victorian medicine.

Medical Consent

Despite how it can often feel in the middle of a busy clinic, or at the start of a full theatre list, consent is more than obtaining a signature on a piece of paper. It is a process that is part of patient-centred care and begins with finding out what matters to the patient, identifying what options are reasonable – including the option of no treatment – and helping the patient decide which option suits them best.

The decision the patient makes may not be the one that you would have made but, if the patient has been kept at the centre of the process, it should be the right one for that individual patient at that time. When the moment comes to sign the consent form, if a patient has been fully involved in the process and enabled to weigh up the different options and their benefits and risks – risks that must be transparently presented – then truly informed consent will have been given. Our approach to consent has to be individualised for each patient and it is with this in mind that we present resources that can aid you in moving towards practising in this way.

That’s why the College published our new online resource on medical consent in October 2018. Written by Dr Catriona Barlow, our Scottish Clinical Leadership Fellow for 2017-2018, the guide is a practical resource to help guide all medical professionals arounds this often complex issue.

HOPE Foundation

The HOPE Foundation is the philanthropic fund of the College, fundraising and making grants to charitable projects that improve access to healthcare for those in disadvantaged circumstances. With a Foundation Manager appointed in April 2018, the inaugural HOPE Foundation Board convened in June 2018 establishing a programme for fundraising activity and grant making.
In May 2018 the fund received its first legacy which enabled the Board to call for grant applications earlier than expected, resulting in 16 formal applications being considered at the end of October. The HOPE foundation Board was delighted to award a total of £33,737 to seven projects:

Glasgow City Mission towards the Winter Night Shelter - £10,000

This project in Glasgow offers emergency accommodation to homeless individuals over the winter months. The team provide support to guests for housing, social support other services. Almost 600 people used the shelter last winter. Nurse practitioners from the local health clinics attend the shelter in the mornings to provide on-site medical care for injuries and break down the barriers that prevent homeless individuals from accessing health care.

Medics Against Violence for MAV’s Mindfulness project - £2,048

Glasgow based Medics Against Violence was founded by healthcare workers dealing with the consequences of violence every day. As part of the Schools Programme, MAV will run a mindfulness workshop for teachers working with young people in areas where violence and its health consequences are apparent. This enables teachers to introduce meditation as a calming classroom activity.

Eiger Music for the Fit-as-a-Fiddle project - £560

Eiger Music is a Glasgow community based charity working to increase wellbeing, community cohesion and reduce isolation and loneliness through music workshops and ‘learning by ear’ opportunities for those living in difficult circumstances.

ReSurge Africa for Noma Flap and Microsurgery Training in Accra, Ghana - £9,949

ReSurge Africa is a Scottish charity led by surgeons who bring training and skills to the medical community primarily in West Africa. This project will train up to 30 surgeons from across the region in micro surgery techniques, particularly to benefit patients living with the severe disfigurements caused by Noma.

Diabetic Foot Management Training in Malawi - £3,130

As part of the College’s ongoing partnership work in Malawi a new course for health workers will help them identify and address the problems of the diabetic foot, improving outcomes and reducing the need for surgery in areas where access to facilities is highly limited.

Vine Trust for a Volunteer Physician to Support outreach healthcare in Amazonian Peru - £1,000

The Vine Trust is an international charity based in Leith, Scotland. It delivers medical projects, including a clinic ship visiting Amazonian Peru. This grant supports the costs of one volunteer physician to participate in a 2019 expedition. The 2018 expeditions supported around 180,000 patients.

King’s Kongo Central Partnership Safer Surgery Training - £7,050

This grant supports UK volunteers to train 27 health workers from across disciplines in safer surgery and to further train 12 of these health workers to be trainers themselves so that they can continue to promote safer surgery across this area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This project is in partnership with King’s College London.

Previous Next

Thanks to personal donations and fundraising events, the fund secured a total of £49,000 in 2018 and plans to disperse more grants in Spring 2019.

Trainee Engagement

The College’s Buddy Scheme, in partnership with the West of Scotland Deanery, is now in its fourth year of operation. The Buddy Scheme provides an informal senior trainee mentor to each more junior core trainee, ensuring they have access to careers advice and guidance, complementing the role provided by their more formal educational support.

Over thirty pairs of medical and surgical trainees have been matched this year, with more to be confirmed. Introductory meetings were held in College in August, with a follow up event in October, at which the senior trainees also enjoyed a personal development session on mentorship.

The scheme has been so successful, that a request has been made from as far away as the Peninsula Deanery in South West England to set up a similar collaboration for surgical trainees there. This is currently being progressed with the help of our surgical regional advisor in North Devon and it is anticipated that this scheme will be launched early in 2019.

The College’s Trainees’ Committee has a new leadership team, with Mahua Chakrabarti and Jack Fairweather taking over the reins as Chair and Vice Chair respectively in May 2018. One of the first tasks was to increase the number of trainees engaged on the Committee and set out an agenda of work for the coming year. An Open Evening was held in November which attracted healthy interest from local trainees and has resulted in over 20 firm expressions of interest, either to join the Committee as full members, or to contribute to the work of its many focus groups.

Trainees’ Committee members come from all training backgrounds and levels, including undergraduates, foundation trainees, Medical and Surgical core/speciality trainees and others.
The committee informs and advises on all aspects of College work and life, in particular on key issues for trainees. Recently this work has included trainee welfare and support, educational courses and conferences, public affairs and curricula and training.

Trainees interested in joining the committee can find out more by emailing traineecommittee@rcpsg.ac.uk