July
New 'Free' Student Membership - 26 July
2010
Medical students interested in a career in paediatrics can now
become affiliate members of the Royal College of Paediatrics and
Child Health (RCPCH).
The RCPCH is responsible for the training and examination of
paediatricians in the UK, as well as undertaking research and
generating policy - all with the goal of providing a strong voice
for children, young people and the health services they need.
The Medical Student Affiliate membership is free and available
to UK medical students. Benefits include -
- Paediatrics careers advice
- RCPCH publications including clinical guidance and reports on
RCPCH research available online
- Monthly eBulletin
- Online access to the RCPCH Newsletter
- Access to the members section of the RCPCH website
Medical Student Affiliates will also have the opportunity to
subscribe to Archives of Disease in Childhood and attend the Annual
Conference at a discounted rate.
Information about careers in paediatrics is available on our new
Careers and Training section of the RCPCH website. Find out general
information on paediatrics, useful contacts and resources as well
as what it is really like from medical students and trainees.
Professor Terence Stephenson, President, Royal College of
Paediatrics and Child Health:"Paediatrics is diverse, stimulating
and rewarding. The RCPCH student membership is a great opportunity
for medical students to find our more about paediatrics and get
some good careers advice. We are looking forward to having this new
body of members as part of our College."
RCPCH welcomes Royal College of Surgeons England
(RCSEng) guidance for provision of general paediatric surgery - 15
July 2010
Dr Carol Ewing, Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health
Workforce Officer and Lead for Paediatric Surgery, said:
"The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health welcomes this
report which we have worked on with the RCS to produce. Surgery for
children is an essential component of high quality services and we
strongly support the delivery of paediatric surgery through managed
clinical networks. A joined up approach is crucial to successful
implementation of the report's recommendations and we look forward
to how commissioners, service planners and Trust providers intend
to do this."
Ends
View the 
RCS
Guidance
View the 
RCS Paediatric Surgery Press Release
June
RCPCH response to Health Secretary Andrew Lansley's
pledge to children with life-treatening conditions - 26 June
2010
Professor Terence Stephenson, President, Royal College of
Paediatrics and Child Health:
"This is very good news and an important financial investment in
children's health services. In particular, we welcome the
contribution it will make towards enabling children and young
people to receive palliative and hospice care at home, putting the
patient and their family first."
Ends
Visit the Department of Health website
RCPCH supports Breastfeeding Awareness Week 21-27 June
2010
Professor Terence Stephenson, President, Royal College of
Paediatrics and Child Health:
"We strongly encourage mothers to breastfeed as there are clear,
proven health benefits for babies. Breastfeeding provides babies
with optimal nutrition, helps protect them from infection in the
first six months of life and has been shown to reduce the
likelihood of becoming obese in later childhood.
"Nothing comes close to breast milk for the advantages it
offers, and we hope that mothers will have the support to make it
their first choice for infant feeding."
Ends
RCPCH supports the British Lung Foundation's call to
'Stub out smoking in cars' - 16 June 2010
Professor Terence Stephenson, President of the Royal College of
Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH):
"The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has recently led
on the call to ban smoking in cars with children travelling in
them. We should be making cars totally smoke-free if there are
children travelling in them. Parents are sending out a strong
message in this survey and the new government should act on this.
Second-hand smoke has been found to be strongly linked to chest
infections, asthma and ear problems in children and sudden infant
death syndrome, or cot death. We strongly support the British
Lung Foundation's call to ban smoking in cars with children and
young people under 18 travelling in them to ensure that we protect
the health of children and young people."
Visit the British Lung Foundation Website
RCPCH response to Medical Education for England (MEE)
Temple review on the impact of the European Working Time Directive
- 10 June 2010
Dr David Shortland, Vice President for Health Services, Royal
College of Paediatrics and Child Health:
"We have for some time been concerned about the impact of the
European Working Time Directive (EWTD) on paediatric services. In
January 2009, we highlighted our concerns to the Department of
Health in relation to staffing and training. This report confirms
what we suspected that implementation of the EWTD is having a
significant impact on the training of paediatric staff, resulting
in significant stress levels and difficulties filling training
posts. It is our view that in order to deliver high quality care,
in the context of EWTD, significant service redesign and
reconfiguration are required. We trust that the government will
recognise this as a matter of urgency."
View the RCPCH
statement from January 2009
View the Temple review on the
MEE website
NHS Evidence accredits Royal College for a high standard
of guidance production - 3 June 2010
NHS Evidence has announced that the process used by the Royal
College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) to produce Science
and Research guidelines is formally approved under the NHS Evidence
Accreditation Scheme - a programme which supports health and social
care staff by enabling them to recognise the most reliable and
trusted sources of guidance.
View the
NHS Evidence
Press Release
Visit the RCPCH Guidelines page
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May
RCPCH statement on MMR in response the General Medical
Council (GMC) decision to erase Andrew Wakefield from the Medical
Register - 25 May 2010
Professor Terence Stephenson, President, Royal College of
Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH):
"Measles, mumps and rubella vaccines have all been shown to be
safe and UK families are fortunate to have free access to these
which is not true of many parts of the world. The false
suggestion of a link between autism and the MMR vaccine has done
untold damage to the UK vaccination
programme.
"We cannot stress too strongly that all children and young
people should have the MMR vaccine. Overwhelming scientific
evidence shows that it is safe."
Ends
Visit the GMC website
RCPCH response to General Medical Council (GMC) guidance
on end of life care - 20 May 2010
Dr David Vickers, Registrar, Royal College of Paediatrics and
Child Health:
"We welcome this new guidance from the GMC. Making decisions
about end of life care that involves children and young people is
emotionally, psychologically and intellectually challenging for
health professionals, children and families alike. This document
provides a framework to assist healthcare professionals, children
and their families to reach decisions together. The guidance places
a welcome emphasis on the importance of recognising the rights of
children and young people to be involved in these difficult
decisions and underlines the importance of considering children's
views, however young they are.
"Paediatricians have a duty to safeguard and protect the health
and well-being of children and young people by acting in their best
interests. Parents and others close to the child also have this
duty, so the emphasis on good communication between doctors,
patients, families and the wider healthcare team in order to reduce
conflict and disagreement is to be commended.
"Unfortunately there are no simple answers when making these
sorts of decisions. This guidance provides an ethical and legal
framework to help professionals, families and children to work
together to make these decisions."
View the GMC guidance in full at the GMC website
RCPCH statement in response to Conservative Liberal
Democrat Coalition Negotiations Agreement - Immigration detention
of children - 12 May 2010
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health is pleased to
see that the Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition have said in
their Negotiations Agreement that they will end the detention of
children for immigration purposes.
This is precisely what we argue for in our policy statement
'Significant Harm - the effects of immigration detention on the
health of children and families in the UK.' In this joint
statement with the Royal Colleges of GPs, Psychiatrists and the
Faculty of Public Health, we state that the administrative
immigration detention of children, young people and their families
is harmful and unacceptable and call on the Government to see this
issue as a matter of priority and stop detaining children without
delay.
We look forward to seeing how the coalition government lives up
to this promise in practice.
Ends
View the Conservative Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement on
the BBC Website
Joint RCOG/RCPCH statement on the AAP policy statement
on FGM - 12 May 2010
The Royal College of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists (RCOG) and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child
Health (RCPCH) welcome the publication of the American Academy of
Paediatrics (AAP) Committee on Bioethics Policy Statement Ritual
Genital Cutting of Female Minors and support the main
recommendations.
This statement echoes the RCOG's own views on a practice which,
in spite of the deep-rooted and complex cultural issues involved,
is essentially barbaric, resulting in long-term morbidities and
needless distress for women.
Both the RCOG and RCPCH are however, concerned by the suggestion
in the AAP paper (Section 'Education of patients and parents', p.
1092) that 'It might be more effective if federal and state laws
enabled paediatricians to reach out to families by offering a
ritual nick as a possible compromise to avoid greater harm'.
Female genital mutilation is in itself a ritual practice and to
suggest that another ritual 'nick' replaces the FGM does not change
the simple fact that pre-pubescent girls in some societies are
expected to go through a violent and painful procedure which will
scar them for the rest of their lives. For clinicians in any
country, the act of engaging in any ritual female genital cutting,
no matter how token, will make them complicit in continuing the
practice of FGM.
To suggest that a qualified medical practitioner is involved in
this practice as a 'compromise' does not make it less brutal and
has the danger of giving legitimacy to FGM. Two wrongs do not
make a right. The main objective for all civilised societies
has to be the complete eradication of an unacceptable
practice.
Ends
Notes
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RCPCH Vice President, Professor Neena Modi, to speak at
NCEPOD Parenteral Nutrition Report Launch - 7 May 2010
Professor Neena Modi, RCPCH Vice President for Science and
Research, will be speaking at the National Confidential Enquiry
into Patient Outcime and Death (NCEPOD) launch of their latest
study which review patients who were recieving Parenteral Nutrition
as an inpatient.
The launch will take place on Thursday 24th June 2010.
View the NCEPOD event flyer
Visit the NCEPOD website
April
RCPCH Annual Conference 2010 - 20 April
2010
The RCPCH Annual Conference (20-22 April) at the University of
Warwick will bring together paediatricians and health professionals
in children's and young people's health from all over the
world.
View press release - RCPCH Annual Conference 2010
News - Children Schools and Families Bill - 8
April 2010
The Children Schools and Families Bill, including Part 2 which
gives the media enhanced access to family proceedings, received
Royal Assent on 8 April 2010.
March
Royal College of Physicians (RCP) launches 'Passive
smoking and children' report - 24 March 2010
The Tobacco Advisory Group of the RCP has launched a major new
report entitled 'Passive smoking and children'.
Professor Terence Stephenson, President, Royal College of
Paediatrics and Child Health:
"The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has recently led
on the call to ban smoking in cars with children travelling in
them. We should be making cars totally smoke-free if there are
children travelling in them. Second-hand smoke has been found to be
strongly linked to chest infections in children, asthma, ear
problems and sudden infant death syndrome, or cot death. We
strongly support the policy recommendations in this new report and
repeat the call for new approaches to address this problem so that
we protect the health of children and young people."
Download the full report as a PDF
'Passive smoking and
children' (829KB)
View the joint College
letter to The Times
RCPCH response to the Department of Children, Schools
and Families (DCSF)announcements about maternity and early years
services - 16 March 2010
Dr David Vickers, Registrar, Royal College of Paediatrics and
Child Health:
"A child's health starts before they are born and the health of
expectant mothers is essential in ensuring healthy babies. We
welcome this announcement to integrate maternity and early years
services at Sure Start Children's Centres and the support this will
provide to parents before and after their baby is born. We must not
forget the significant role of fathers and it is important that
services are supportive to fathers as well as mothers.
"We need to promote healthy lifestyles through good nutrition
and activity from the early years. Healthy children grow into
healthy adults and the importance of the early years can not be
underestimated."
View the
DCSF press notice
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RCPCH reponse to Chief Medical Officer's Annual Report,
On the State of Public Health - 15 March
2010
Dr David Vickers, Registrar, Royal College of Paediatrics and
Child Health:
"We strongly welcome this report from the Chief Medical Officer.
We recognise that inactivity in adults begins in childhood - an
issue on which we have strongly campaigned. We continue to be
extremely concerned about child obesity as it damages children's
physical and mental health and the harmful effects continue in to
adulthood. Physical activity is essential part of leading a healthy
lifestyle and we encourage all parents to consider whether their
child is getting enough regular exercise. Healthy children grow up
to be healthy adults and we are soon to appoint a Healthy
Lifestyles Officer at the College to coordinate our work in this
area.
"Rare diseases affect many children who do not survive into
adulthood and we would call for any National Director of Rare
Diseases to support children as well as adults. The diagnosis and
treatment of children with rare diseases has improved greatly in
recent years but it is important that resources and funding
continues to be available for research.
"We also welcome the recognition of the important role of
grandparents in children's lives and would support further research
in how best to work with grandparents to improve the health of
children in the UK."
View the Chief Medical Officer's
2009 Annual Report
Climate change and maternal and child health conference
- 12 March 2010
Today the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Royal
College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and Royal College of
Midwives hosted a conference about the impact of climate
change on maternal and child health.
Together the Colleges call upon medical colleagues and those
working in the National Health Service to make the following six
pledges:
1. Support and propagate the values and aspirations of the
Climate and Health Council's Declaration 'Tackling climate change,
improving health'
2. Inform ourselves about the basic science of climate change,
the health benefits of taking action, and the urgency of doing
so.
3. To measure our own carbon footprint
4. Reduce travel by car and plane thereby improving our
individual and/or group carbon footprint.
5. Use less energy ourselves (and reduce costs) by more
insulation in the roof, walls and floors; turning off electrical
appliances and lights when not in use.
6. Convey the impact of climate change on health and what we
need to do to reverse the trends to colleagues, friends and
relatives.
To show your support to these pledges please email
ipledge@rcog.org.uk by
Friday 9 April 2010. Include your name, job title and trust and
include 'I pledge' in the email subject.
View the pledges as a PDF.
View Dr Tony Waterston's, RCPCH Advocacy Chair,
BBC website article on climate change and
health.
RCPCH response to Department of Health's taskforce on
Violence against Women and Children report - 11 March
2010
Dr Rosalyn Proops, Child Protection Officer, Royal College of
Paediatrics and Child Health:
"The Taskforce report on Violence against Women and Children
starts with the disturbing reminder that 2 million children in the
UK experience sexual violence and abuse, many never tell anyone and
for those few who do, there is a significant lack of therapeutic
support and treatment services. Failure to provide these services
at an early age can result in a lifetime's cost to health, social
welfare and, sometimes, criminal justice services.
"Paediatricians have important responsibilities in identifying,
assessing and supporting these children and young people and the
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health strongly supports the
recommendations of the Taskforce. We will work alongside others to
ensure that all children who have experienced violence and sexual
abuse have access to a timely high quality service with well
trained paediatricians."
View the final
Department of
Heath report
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February
RCPCH response to 11 Million follow up report to -
The arrest and detention of children subject to immigration
control - 17 February 2010
Dr Rosalyn Proops, Officer for Child Protection, Royal College
of Paediatrics and Child Health:
"We welcome this follow up report by the Children's Commissioner
for England in particular the focus on healthcare and safeguarding.
We are very concerned about the health and welfare of children in
immigration detention. These children are among the most vulnerable
in our communities and detention causes unnecessary harm to their
physical and mental health. The current situation is unacceptable
and we urge the Government to stop the detention of children
without delay."
Visit the 11 Million website and view
the Children's Commissioner for England's press release and
download the report in full.
National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) launches new
gentamicin safety guidance - 15 February 2010
The NPSA has issued new guidance to ensure safer systems are in
place for newborn babies needing treatment with gentmicin. The
guidance was developed folliwng a collaborative project between the
NPSA and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child
Health(RCPCH).
Professor Neena Modi, Vice President for Science and Research,
RCPCH:
"Newborn patient safety is an important issue. This project was
supported by a wide range of organisations and parent groups
concerned with newborn wellbeing. We are delighted that the
successful outcome of this joint initiative by the RCPCH and NPSA
is to be implemented by all NHS trusts."
View the press release -
click
here
Visit the NPSA website
The Audit Commission has published a new report about the
health of children under five - Giving Children a Healthy
Start - 03 February 2010
Professor Terence Stephenson, President, Royal College of
Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH):
"We are very concerned by the Audit Commission's findings that
health outcomes for under-fives have only improved marginally in
the last ten years.
"As a society we need to see child health as a priority and
improve frontline NHS services for children - the RCPCH has long
been in favour of integrated child health services. We also need to
look at improving factors that affect child health such as child
poverty, the advertising of unhealthy foods and second-hand
smoke.
"We also need to ensure we are supporting parents and that there
is sustained investment for the health of young children. Healthy
children grow into healthy adults and the importance of the early
years can not be underestimated."
Professor Terence Stephenson also wrote a comment piece for the
Guardian Society about the report -
click here
RCPCH reaction to Lancet Retraction of MMR paper - 02
February 2010
Professor Terence Stephenson, President, Royal College of
Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH):
"Measles, mumps and rubella vaccines have all been shown to be
safe and UK families are fortunate to have free access to these
which is not true of many parts of the world. The false
suggestion of a link between autism and the MMR vaccine has done
untold damage to the UK vaccination programme.
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health hopes the
withdrawal of this publication on scientific grounds helps improve
uptake of the MMR vaccine for the UK's children."
To visit the Lancet website -
click
here
Department of Health launches new tobacco strategy - 01
February 2010
The Department of Health has today launched its new tobacco
control strategy that aims to dramatically reduce smoking rates
among adults and children.
Professor Terence Stephenson, President, RCPCH:
"We are pleased to see that children are a priority in this new
strategy. We are particularly concerned about the health
outcomes and effects when adults smoke in the presence of their
children. Second-hand smoke has been found to be strongly linked to
chest infections in children, asthma, ear problems and cot
death."
The RCPCH is a member of the Smokefree Action Coalition. To view
the Smokefree Coalition press release in full -
click here
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January
New Chief Executive - Royal College of Paediatrics and
Child Health - 26 January 2010
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) is
delighted to announce that Dr Chris Hanvey will be joining the
College as the new Chief Executive.
Chris will be joining the RCPCH in mid February from his role as
Deputy Chief Executive at Barnardo's where he has helped lead the
organisation through a period of significant change, growth and
modernisation.
He has vast experience in children's services and related
organisations which include roles as Assistant Director of
Children's Services in Leeds, Director of Policy for NCH now Action
for Children and CEO of both the Thomas Coram Foundation and the
John Ellerman Foundation. He has also been an advisor to the
Cabinet Office.
Professor Terence Stephenson, President, RCPCH:
"I am delighted to welcome Chris into the Royal College of
Paediatrics and Child Health. This is an exciting time for
the College and his considerable experience in children's services
is going to be a huge asset to us."
Dr Chris Hanvey:
"I have very much enjoyed my life at Barnardo's and was lucky
enough to help lead an important transition for the charity, with
radical modernisation in our children's services.
"What unites both these great organisations is a passionate
commitment to improving the lives of children and young people. The
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health will provide a fresh
challenge for me - and one to which I'm greatly looking
forward."
Election announcement - RCPCH Vice President
for Training and Assessment - 12 January 2010
The College is very pleased to announce the election of Dr Simon
Newell as Vice President for Training and Assessment. Dr Newell
will serve with immediate effect.
For information about College assessment and training: www.rcpch.ac.uk/training, www.rcpch.ac.uk/examinations
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For news from 2009 please - click
here