We hosted more than 50 key pre-hospital emergency medicine leaders, decision-makers and clinicians for an innovative and thought-provoking national ‘Optimising Inclusivity in Pre-hospital Emergency Medicine (PHEM)’ Symposium, on Monday 9 September, to discuss how to improve gender-based related barriers to inclusivity within Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) and pre-hospital care.
The aim of the day was to inform the discussion around these barriers to generate actionable insights and plans around equity and perception of equity of access to working within UK HEMS and PHEM to drive meaningful progress. This is to ensure that services, and ultimately patients, benefit from the most talented clinicians regardless of their backgrounds and characteristics.
The event, held at Robert Denholm House, Nutfield, in Surrey, saw experts come together from across the UK with a special focus on potential and perceived barriers for clinicians around pregnancy-related challenges, the ability and opportunity to continue in PHEM and HEMS clinical work during pregnancy, maternity and paternity leave, return to work policies and beyond.
Attendees included influential stakeholders from specialties such as paramedicine, emergency medicine, midwifery, obstetrics and gynaecology, and anaesthesia working for a wide range of organisations including; air ambulance charities, ambulance services, universities, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Professional Advisory Group, Ministry of Defence, Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, College of Paramedics, and the Royal Air Force.
David Welch, our Chief Executive, said: “I’m immensely proud that KSS has been able to lead the facilitation of this important national symposium which has bought together representatives from a broad range of organisations to share, learn and collaborate to further improve the inclusivity and accessibility of pre-hospital emergency medicine for clinicians. By championing inclusivity, we hope to drive tangible improvements which will benefit many future generations of PHEM and HEMS colleagues, and ultimately, patients both in the UK and further afield.”
The insight and learnings from this symposium will now be used to inform further discussion over the coming months as the sector continues to encourage collaboration to help pave a pathway forward.
