Paediatric Emergency Medicine Trainee
This post is an excellent opportunity for candidates to gain sub-specialty qualification in Paediatric
Emergency Medicine. The job will take place for 9 months in the Royal Berkshire Hospital
Emergency Department (ED) which is recognised by the College of Emergency Medicine (CEM)
and the GMC as having an ‘A’ rating for education and 3 months at the John Radcliffe Hospital in
Oxford.
The job shall consist of the following:

6 months PEM training at Royal Berkshire Hospital in its designated PEM Department
under the supervision of Dr Omar Nafousi

3 months in Paediatrics at Royal Berkshire Hospital under the supervision of Dr Akmal
Hussain

3 months in Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford
under the supervision of Dr Alison Shefler
The post will have an educational supervisor and be given the same protected weekly teaching
and access to educational resources as the departmental middle grades and the Paediatric
Registrars
The objective of the post is to provide a thorough grounding in Paediatric Emergency Medicine
(PEM) suitable for those who subsequently might wish to sub-specialise in PEM.
Paediatric Emergency Medicine at the Royal Berkshire Hospital
The RBH is a busy district general hospital serving a population of 600,000 and our ED sees
approximately 100,000 patients per year with 25% of these being under 16 years old. We are a
trauma unit operating within the Thames Valley Trauma Network.
Emergency Medicine is at the heart of the hospital’s emergency care pathway and provides
innovative and high quality care for patients from the moment they arrive at the hospital. It is a
consultant led service with consultants providing leadership and patient care on the ‘shop floor’
08:00 – 00:00 7 days a week. There is a strong commitment to ensure the ED is appropriately
resourced to deliver high quality and timely emergency care. The trust has been and continues to
be very supportive of the developments that are taking place to address the pressures resulting
from increased emergency admissions and a greater acuity of cases which present.
The department has excellent links with inpatient hospital teams: two EM consultant appointments
being joint posts with the Intensive Care Unit and others are emergency physicians with dual
training in paediatrics and others with an interest in trauma and pre-hospital medicine.
The Emergency Department is a purpose built unit that opened in 2002, with a new dedicated
Paediatric Emergency Department area that opened in Dec 2010. There are four resuscitation
bays, (3 adult and 1 paediatric) which are equipped to provide state of the art care to critically ill
and injured patients. The new paediatric emergency department has a dedicated waiting room, 4
major's assessment bays, minor injury assessment cubicles and 2 treatment rooms. In addition
there is a decontamination unit within the ED, and two dedicated X-ray rooms.
Education and training
The department has a strong emphasis on education of junior doctors, and we the only ED within
the region to gain an ‘A’ rating for training in the deanery visit in 2013 and 2014. This follows on
from a grade A from the Deanery Approval Committee for 2011 and 2012 for the Royal Berkshire
Hospital NHS Trust for both Emergency Medicine and our ACCS programme. We are also the
only trust in the region to be recognised as a centre for Paediatric Emergency Medicine training.
You will be allocated a consultant educational supervisor who will support your education and
training by carrying out regular meetings, completing work based assessments and providing
career advice. All our trainees benefit from a strong consultant presence on the shop floor. We
have a motivated and dedicated consultant body to deliver close clinical supervision and support
throughout the day.
The trust regularly holds regular life support courses (including ATLS, ALS and APLS) and has
developed a TILS (Trauma Immediate Life Support) course. Junior doctors are strongly
encouraged to complete the TILS and PILS (Paediatric Intermediate Life Support) courses during
their time in the ED.
Oxford School of Emergency Medicine
The Oxford School of Emergency Medicine (OSEM) is part of Health Education Thames Valley
(HETV), the Local Education and Training Board (LETB) for Thames Valley covering Berkshire,
Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. HETV vision is to ensure the delivery of effective workforce
2
planning and excellent education and training to develop a highly capable, flexible and motivated
workforce that delivers improvements in health for the population of Thames Valley.
OSEM administers the ACCS, PHEM, PEM and EM training programmes. The School is small,
close knit and has a reputation for good pastoral care, and excellent training. In addition to the
twice monthly regional training days, the higher trainees also organize a national CPD conference
every winter, and are actively involved in the School board and training porcesses.
Further information is available from: Dr Simon Smith, Head of School, and Consultant in EM,
Oxford (simon.smith@ouh.nhs.uk)
John Radcliffe Paediatric Intensive Care Unit
The Paediatric Critical Care (PCC) unit provides intensive and high dependency care to the local
population and children of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire as well as further afield.
Paediatric medical specialities include Infectious diseases, Respiratory medicine, Cardiology,
Neurology, Endocrinology and Gastroenterology; the unit also admits patients undergoing
specialist Neonatal surgery, General Surgery, Neurosurgery and requiring Trauma care. The PCC
comprises an Intensive Care Area and an adjacent High Dependency ward with a combined
capacity to accommodate 18 patients.
The department is run by a PCC consultant of the week, one of 6 with either a Paediatric or
Anaesthetic background. The consultant is a strong presence on the unit and provides a
continuous high level of training and supervision. This includes overseeing the assessment and
management of clinically unstable children on inpatient wards, in the ED or requiring retrieval from
the DGH referral base. The HDU receives a number of complex and high risk patients directly
from theatres, providing an excellent training opportunity in the management of paediatric surgical
emergencies and postoperative care.
The Oxford PCC is actively supported by a wide variety of multidisciplinary services including
Paediatric Anaesthetics, Radiology, Physiotherapy and Psychology. We have close links to the
local Paediatric Hospice, Helen House, to help support children with life limiting illness and their
families. Paediatric Intensive Care retrievals are managed on a 24 hour basis jointly with
Southampton General Hospital under the umbrella title of Southampton Oxford Retrieval Team
(“SORT”). SORT provides support to over 15 District General Hospitals in the South Central
Region.
The department is staffed with 9 trainees at ST6-7 level with a strong background in Paediatrics
and Neonatology. The ED trainee will participate in the full shift rota and be allocated a consultant
3
clinical supervisor to oversee the high quality educational and training opportunities in the PCC,
including interactive bedside and didactic teaching, multidisciplinary simulation and formative
assessment via work based assessments. A governance project will be encouraged and the
trainee will have the opportunity to take part in the ongoing research activities within the
department
For any further information on the post please feel free to contact Dr Omar Nafousi on
omar.nafousi@royalberkshire.nhs.uk or 01183227011
Staffing of the Emergency Department
Consultants in Emergency Medicine
Dr Maria Dudek
Dr Liza Keating (ICU / EM)
Dr David Mossop (EM / ICU) – Clinical lead
Dr Rosemary Hancock
Dr Omar Nafousi (EM / Paediatric EM)
Dr Jane Brenchley (EM Training programme director)
Dr Rachael De Caux (NHS Fast Track Executive Programme)
Dr Robert Slater
Dr Lizle Blom
Dr Robert Tan (Clinical tutor)
Dr Dimitri Kontogeorgis
Dr Manish Thakker (Foundation programme TPD)
Dr Andrea Hinterholzer
Dr David Clarke
Associate Specialists
Dr P Jeyakumar
Dr B Sharma
Dr S Myint
Mr J Nagaraj
ST3 – ST6
Six – Oxford rotation
Speciality Doctors
Dr A Donohoe
4
Dr T Perry
Dr B Gerov
Dr V Dimitrov
Dr R Weldon (part time)
Dr A Sandercott (part time)
Junior doctors
3 ACCS ST1
5 GP VTS ST1
4 F2
Emergency Nurse Practitioners
11 WTE
Matron
Brenda Morton
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
Applicants must be registered with the General Medical Council.
5