Paediatric Respiratory Training in East Midlands North

I carried out paediatric respiratory training as an interest in Nottingham alongside my general training. The post was alongside the grid respiratory training that is also available in Nottingham. For some of my training I also job shared with the grid trainee so actually had a lot of experience of both posts!

The respiratory training in Nottingham is excellent and very varied. There are many clinics to contribute to and attend, including general paediatrics with an interest in respiratory, allergy, Asthma and chronic lung disease clinics. There are also long term ventilation clinics and specialist clinics including muscle weakness clinics and AT clinics that the respiratory team are a fundamental part of. The weekly Cystic Fibrosis clinic is a truly multidisciplinary team effort and is excellent for seeing and managing both the well and not so well CF patients. There is a very broad spectrum of patients in Nottingham with a number of pre and post lung transplant patients also being cared for.

The day to day work of the respiratory team involves 3 x week consultant led ward rounds of all respiratory and CF in-patients. This is a great learning opportunity and all of the consultants are excellent at teaching on these ward rounds. There is a weekly MDT meeting to discuss the CF in-patients and the other day to day management of the patients is coordinated by the respiratory SpR’s.

There is an increasing paediatric bronchoscopy service in Nottingham with the opportunity to observe and carry out the procedure with consultant supervision when enough experience has been gained. Grid trainees can also get more bronchoscopy experience in Sheffield. The sleep study service is also expanding in Nottingham with regular meetings to discuss the abnormal results. Whilst the full sleep studies including EEG and respiratory bands are not yet done in Nottingham, there are facilities for O2 sats, HR and co2 monitoring.

The respiratory team in Nottingham is very friendly and approachable and they would welcome any enquiries about the training opportunities here. There are both academic and clinical consultants in post and the grid training also includes some PICU training in Nottingham. . I have enjoyed every part of my general and respiratory training in Nottingham and would whole heartedly recommend it to any trainee thinking of pursing this interest or general paediatrics.

Donna Traves