The last two weeks have been a rollercoaster ride for me! My clinical shifts have reminded me how perilous our staffing across the NHS is and how blessed I am to have nursing and medical colleagues who graciously roll up their sleeves and help when things become too stretched. My outpatient clinics have led me to pause and remember how difficult life is for so many of our families and yet how dignified and generous in their gratitude towards the NHS the parents I work with are.
Nuffield Trust report
My first trip to the BBC in Central London to be interviewed on the Today Programme reminded me what a hugely privileged role I have and how important it is to use that to amplify the plight in England of the over 300,000 children on waiting lists for hospital procedures and appointments, and the unknown thousands who are on ‘hidden’ waiting lists for community child health appointments (further details are published in the Nuffield Trust report).
As paediatricians, we see the worrying enormity of how children and young people have been adversely impacted by the pandemic – and we will continue to voice these issues and the need for urgent action to policymakers.
Being kind
Reflecting on the past two weeks, there were moments showing the stark impact of social media day-to-day. I know that many of us follow and engage with social media to stay connected. But there are occasions when it can feel a negative space and sadly, the nastiness of social media in the last two weeks has reminded me how quickly people judge others, often based on the scantiest of information. I believe it’s important for everyone to be kind and think about the impact of what’s said on others before a tweet is posted. Kindness should never be forgotten.
Wise words
As is so often the case in the work we do, my most memorable moment in the last two weeks was an afternoon spent interviewing alongside one of the young people who volunteers with the RCPCH &Us team. At the end of the afternoon, her parting words to me made me stop in my tracks – “There’s no growth in a comfort zone. There’s no comfort in a growth zone.” Suddenly her wisdom meant my challenging two weeks made sense!
Vaccinations
Vaccinations are our bread and butter and none of us needs reminding about what a crucial public health role the 14 that are currently offered to children and young people have.
We have a dual challenge at the moment. Firstly, we must use every patient encounter to reinforce the message of the importance of the routine immunisations and MMR is probably the one where there is most concern currently about uptake. We now have the additional responsibility to raise the COVID-19 vaccination with the children, young people and parents we meet. For children aged 5 to 15 years who are deemed to be at risk of COVID-19 or who live with vulnerable family members, the case in favour of vaccination is clear and so please use every patient contact to have a conversation. For healthy 5 to 15 year olds, the message is slightly more nuanced, but nevertheless it is really important that we make sure that families know the facts and how to access the immunisation when it becomes available in April.
To help, we have updated our COVID-19 FAQs and I hope this helps with discussions.
Living with COVID-19
This week’s announcement of the UK Government’s plan for living with COVID-19 has received a lot of press attention. There are lots of mixed feelings about this and I know much anxiety too. We will watch closely as the weeks go by. If the changes to rules about asymptomatic testing in schools means that children’s education is less interrupted, then this may be a good thing, especially for those from more disadvantaged backgrounds. However, only time will tell how the public respond and whether future new variants mean rules have to change again.
Farewell to our two Vice Presidents
We are saying farewell and thank you to two of our RCPCH Vice Presidents this month. Both Nick Bishop (Science and Research) and Simon Clark (Policy) have held their roles for three years and put huge amounts of effort and time into their various portfolios and been brilliant friends and colleagues. We will miss them both and are truly grateful for their work. Please do take time to read personal reflections from Nick and Simon on their time at the College.
Ukraine
Global events are in all our minds, as the crisis in Ukraine has escalated to new and worrying levels. I wanted to offer our heartfelt thoughts to friends, colleagues and children and young people in Ukraine at this incredibly difficult time.
With my best wishes to you all and take care
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