You will likely have seen through College communications that we held our annual Conference last week in brilliant Birmingham. And almost one-in-ten of our members attended, either in person or remotely. If you joined us in Birmingham, I hope you still have a post conference glow and smile when you look at your photos. Whether you were there or not, please check our website for photos and highlights.
In addition to RCPCH’s 30th anniversary, we celebrated anniversaries of many of our College’s programmes to improve child health, including RCPCH &Us, Medicines for Children, British Paediatric Surveillance Unit and Archives of Disease in Childhood. For me, the Conference was a tremendous success; there was education, networking and socialising.
One of many highlights was standing in the main hall drinking a coffee just watching and listening to the buzz of members mingling. Another highlight was being in a conversation with a knight of the realm, Sir Andrew Pollard, and a former Children’s Laureate, Julia Donaldson. We also held our first RCPCH &Us Youth Health Conference, a conference within a conference, which was a great opportunity to hear the voices of children and young people. Other memories include the energy at the students, trainees and senior members functions, and doing the conga at the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) dinner!
Conference was bookended by political change; it followed elections in Scotland and Wales and was in turn followed by political turmoil in England. Opportunity will arise from this change. We are ideally placed to embrace change and translate the momentum of conference into further improving conditions for children and young people and our members.
#WDYCD4U: Our new Paediatric Influencing Network
If you’ve come away from our Annual Conference feeling energised and inspired, now is the perfect moment to channel that momentum. Our new Paediatric Influencing Network offers a brilliant opportunity to shape the future of children’s health by contributing to the work of the College Policy and External Affairs team. Whether you’re new to influencing or already experienced, your insights can make a real difference to the College’s unique voice.
Strong foundations: Our campaign to improve health in the early years
We know a child's early years shape the foundation for their health, development and long‑term outcomes. Through our new Strong foundations campaign, we're calling for strengthened health services that support babies, young children and their families. You can help shape our campaign by completing our short survey, it should only take 10-15 minutes. Tell us what challenges you experience in the early years health services and the change you want to see across the UK.
Introducing our new digital skills roadmaps
Earlier this year we launched our Digital Health Hub, exclusively for members. We’ve now added ‘roadmaps’, self-directed learning pathways that can help you build digital knowledge and confidence for your clinical practice.
These are organised into domains such as data literacy, telehealth and remote care, digital inclusion, and AI. You can select a topic you’re interested in, access recommended online training on increasing levels and mark your own progress.
In case you missed it...
At last week’s Conference in Birmingham, we were proud to recognise and award prizes to medical students, foundation doctors, international members and others who are passionate about paediatrics and child health. Awardees include children’s author, Julia Donaldson CBE, Professor Russell Viner CBE, and many other fantastic, worthy winners.
You can see all the award winners and Honorary Fellows along with photos on our website.
Best wishes all round,
Steve
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