Chilton Seminars

The Chilton Seminars are held at 11.00 am in the Training Centre at CRCE Chilton. It would be helpful if those attending could arrive before 10.45 am.

For those travelling by train, the nearest station is Didcot Parkway, where there is a taxi stand: the journey time to Chilton is about 15 minutes. For those travelling by car, restricted parking is available at the Training Centre. Visitors who arrive on foot should go directly to reception at the Training Centre. Maps and directions to the Chilton site are available.

 

It would be helpful if disabled visitors could give notification in advance, using the e-mail address below, or telephone 01235 831600, extension 2124, or e-mail carolyn.strange@hpa.org.uk.

 Professor Simon Thomas and Dr Simon Hill, Newcastle University

will speak about

Networked expertise for the clinical diagnosis and management of people with radiation sickness – plugging the UK capability gap

on Friday, 29 June 2012

The National Poisons Information Service (NPIS) is commissioned by the Health Protection Agency to provide advice to UK health professionals on the diagnosis and management of poisoning on a 24/7 basis. Various UK agencies, including the Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards (CRCE) of the HPA, have a role in the public health and environmental management of radiation incidents, but do not provide direct clinical advice for people with suspected acute radiation exposure. NHS clinicians in various medical specialties are able to provide some advice on an ad hoc basis, including radiotherapy/oncology, haematology, medical physics and clinical toxicology. Such expertise is not universally available and there is no agreed referral route for provision of clinical support. To address this capability gap, the possibility that NPIS could act as the first point of call for clinical enquiries has been investigated. Although expertise in radiation medicine within NPIS is limited, rapid involvement of appropriate radiation expertise could be facilitated by NPIS, allowing early direct contact between treating clinicians and experienced clinical radiation experts.

This talk will describe a proposed model and provide an update on progress.