Paediatric Specialty and Specialist (SAS) doctors and Advanced Paediatric Nurse Practitioner (APNP) colleagues from across Durham and Darlington recently came together for a cross-site development day focused on shared learning, professional development and improving patient care.
Held at Prospect House, Durham, the event brought together colleagues from across both acute hospital sites for a varied programme of teaching sessions, workshops and discussion.
Topics included interactive paediatric dermatology, neonatal communication, managing sudden unexpected death in infancy and childhood, learning from PAN clinics, outpatient management and understanding the support available through Family Hubs.
The study day was jointly organised by Danielle Ralton, APNP Lead, and Dr Indrayani Salphale, Paediatric SAS Lead, with the aim of strengthening collaboration and creating opportunities for colleagues to learn from one another.
Danielle said: “Building on the success of previous SAS/APNP development days organised by Dr Raj Balu, we wanted to continue the momentum by delivering another opportunity for shared learning, collaboration and professional development.”
As well as offering valuable educational opportunities, the development day provided colleagues with time away from busy clinical environments to connect with peers, share experiences and discuss ideas for future service development.
Feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive, with all sessions rated as very good to excellent. Colleagues described the event as “very well organised”, “a great opportunity to learn and socialise with colleagues across both sites” and “such a valuable day for everyone involved”.
Dr Indrayani Salphale added: “It was incredibly encouraging to see such enthusiasm and engagement from colleagues across both sites throughout the day. The positive feedback and requests for more cross-site development days reinforced how valuable protected time for shared learning, collaboration and networking is across our teams.”
The organisers extended their thanks to everyone who supported and presented during the event, including Dr Prachi Desai, Dr Edwina Tang, Dr El Mehdi Garbash, Audrey Barker, Danielle Ralton, Dr Raj Balu and Alison Ghent.
Following the success of the event, the team hopes to continue hosting cross-site development days in the future, helping to strengthen collaboration and support ongoing professional development across paediatric services.
