Prof. Damian Roland
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damianroland.bsky.social
Prof. Damian Roland
@damianroland.bsky.social
Honorary Professor of Paediatric Emergency Medicine
Urgent and Emergency Care System Clinical Director (Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland)
@uniofleicester (https://bit.ly/3MrD1vZ)
Past Chair PERUKI; Team EM3 & @DFTBubbles
#FOAMed #PEMSky
Sorry I was late this week....

So Flu continues its early rise

www.gov.uk/government/s...
November 8, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Published this from my PhD exactly 10 years ago.

I thought it would be a Medical Education breakthrough!

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26537496/

It wasn't

My career then took a different direction

Just because some projects don't have impact you expect doesn't mean you won't eventually
A qualitative study of self-evaluation of junior doctor performance: is perceived 'safeness' a more useful metric than confidence and competence? - PubMed
A perception of 'safeness' is a concept that may aid self-evaluation and we present a matrix that might be used by supervisors and educators to examine this and its relationship with confidence and competence.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
November 4, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Interesting trends starting to emerge.

In Emergency Care why does winter feel like it has come early?

Because it has - Flu earlier than normal.

Get vaccinated if you are eligible.

#flu

www.gov.uk/government/s...
October 30, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Research Opportunities at the @rcpch.bsky.social!

Academic Trainees Day 2025 (6th November)
www.rcpch.ac.uk/news-events/...
October 24, 2025 at 3:45 PM
And so it begins...

Flu and RSV seasons have begun.

The impact of winter often determined but how incidence plays out.

Both now have vaccination programmes. Have we done enough to reduce predictable surges?

www.gov.uk/government/s...
October 21, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Must say I never thought I would get a citation in a paper with a title like this...

"The Dark Matter in Water and Land: from Microplastic to invisible nanoplastics"

chemrxiv.org/engage/api-g...
October 12, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Great listen from @drguddisingh.bsky.social

Lots of learning & eye-opening statistics for both the public and professionals.

What is being described is the need to centre care around children, not bring children to care.

The Foundation of Neighbourhood health

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - Three Ages of Child, Episode 1: The Early Years
A journey through the landscape that shapes the health of our children.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 11, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Thanks to @ukhsa.bsky.social we can monitor impact of RSV (the virus which causes bronchiolitis)

We started vaccinating pregnant mothers last year but didn't see much of an impact.

Let's hope with⬆️immunisation rates things are different this year...

www.gov.uk/government/s...
October 9, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Great resource from @Radiopaedia

A Paediatric x-ray atlas of normal x-rays in children

radiopaedia.org/normal-paedi...

#FOAMed
Normal Pediatric X-ray Atlas | Radiopaedia Cases | Radiopaedia.org
/* Single-column layout everywhere */ #peds-controls .peds-grid { display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr; grid-template-areas: "region" "gender" "slider"; gap: 14px; align-items: end; } .peds-region { grid-area: region; } .peds-gender { grid-area: gender; } .peds-slider { grid-area: slider; } /* Slider: large grab area */ #peds-age-slider { -webkit-appearance: none; width: 100%; height: 28px; background: transparent; } #peds-age-slider:focus { outline: none; } #peds-age-slider::-webkit-slider-runnable-track { height: 10px; background: #e6eaf2; border-radius: 999px; border: 1px solid #d6d9e0; } #peds-age-slider::-moz-range-track { height: 10px; background: #e6eaf2; border-radius: 999px; border: 1px solid #d6d9e0; } #peds-age-slider::-webkit-slider-thumb { -webkit-appearance: none; width: 22px; height: 22px; border-radius: 50%; background: #fff; border: 2px solid #8C52FF; margin-top: -7px; cursor: pointer; } #peds-age-slider::-moz-range-thumb { width: 22px; height: 22px; border-radius: 50%; background: #fff; border: 2px solid #8C52FF; cursor: pointer; } /* Age label + readout: prominent */ .peds-age-label { display:flex; align-items:center; justify-content:space-between; gap:10px; font-weight:800; margin-bottom:4px; font-size:1.5rem; } .peds-age-readout { font-weight:900; color:#111827; font-size:1.6rem; line-height:1; } /* Gender radios */ .peds-gender-group { display:flex; gap:12px; align-items:center; flex-wrap:wrap; } .peds-gender-group label { display:inline-flex; align-items:center; gap:6px; cursor:pointer; line-height:1.2; } .peds-gender-group input[type="radio"] { margin:0; vertical-align:middle; accent-color:#8C52FF; } /* Output + sections */ .peds-section { scroll-margin-top:80px; } #peds-output { opacity:0; transition:opacity .35s ease; } #peds-output.is-visible { opacity:1; } /* Heading row wraps H4 and (optional) pill; spacing below image */ .peds-heading-row { display:inline-flex; align-items:baseline; gap:10px; width:100%; margin:0 0 14px 0; } .peds-heading-row > h4 { margin:0; } /* Gender pills */ .pill { display:inline-block; padding:3px 10px; border-radius:999px; font-size:.93em; font-weight:400; line-height:1; white-space:nowrap; border:1px solid transparent; position:relative; top:-1px; } .pill-male { background:#eaf3ff; border-color:#cfe4ff; color:#0f3b82; } .pill-female { background:#fff7cc; border-color:#ffe59e; color:#7a5a00; } /* Case credit */ .peds-credit { font-size:0.9em; } /* Consistent gap before credit whether image is in or not */ p.peds-imgblock { margin-bottom: 8px !important; } img.peds-imgblock { display:block; margin-bottom: 8px !important; } /* Optional: style the disabled separator text a bit lighter where supported */ #peds-region option[disabled] { color:#9aa3af; font-style:italic; }
radiopaedia.org
October 9, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Brilliant example of how data can, and should, be available.

Variation in children (0-9) prescribed antibiotics in the last year in primary care

www.prescqipp.info/our-resource...

Difficult to explain this degree of variation away...
October 9, 2025 at 6:26 PM
#Flu jab - please get yours if you qualify!

www.nhs.uk/vaccinations...
October 7, 2025 at 9:41 AM
I think we already know that just putting National PEWS into the back of ambulance won't be effective...

...so what are the key tenants of recognising deterioration and what is "deterioration" in an pre-hospital context?

Help my #PhD student answer these questions!
October 1, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Transforming academic medicine through social media: why isn’t it working for me?

rdcu.be/eIbdb

"For physicians in all specialties, social media literacy is becoming an essential skill for modern healthcare communication"

Huge thanks to Kikelomo Babata and Daniel O'Reilly
September 25, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Reposted by Prof. Damian Roland
Excellent article with many important points.
September 13, 2025 at 5:39 PM
On #WorldSepsisDay highlighting editorial (with @apsmunro.bsky.social )

"Time for paediatrics to screen out sepsis “screening”

www.bmj.com/content/381/...

(For example screening, by definition, requires patient to be asymptomatic. But many patients receiving a “sepsis screen” are symptomatic)
Time for paediatrics to screen out sepsis “screening”
It is time to remove the term, “sepsis screen,” from the paediatric lexicon, argue these authors Despite the success of vaccinations against organisms such as Haemophilus influenza type B and Neisser...
www.bmj.com
September 13, 2025 at 5:07 PM
It's #worldsepsisday

Please consider this Sepsis Research Priority Survey with the @LindAlliance

Led by the sepsis expert @Dr_Elliot_Long as part of the PASSPORT study.

www.passport-platform.org
September 13, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Post Lunch
Stuart Hartshorn on the CURLY study

Cefalexin for UTIs – Right treatment Length in Young children.

curly.digitrial.com

Interesting findings already on frequency of true culture positive in Children presenting to EDs

#PERUKI25
The CURLY Study
The CURLY Study
curly.digitrial.com
September 4, 2025 at 1:20 PM
And now Charlotte Durand on e-scooters

Audit from Alderhey demonstrated a clear signal for the incidence of Major Trauma from e-scooters.

Helmet wearing (or lack of) was an issue

**Private e-Scooters are illegal**

#PERUKI25
September 4, 2025 at 9:12 AM
A great question form the audience on Urine Studies.

What about sites which still use pad urines? Shouldn't we be researching them?

Two Issues:

1. Can't ethically do a study actively supporting a treatment NICE doesn't recommend

#PERUKI25
September 4, 2025 at 8:59 AM
The EASY study.

fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR15...

"But it wasn't" - Tom Waterfield

#PERUKI25
Search - NIHR Funding and Awards
fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk
September 4, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Having taken a hiatus from BlueSky I'm back.

It's the @PERUKItweep conference 2025

Thomas Waterfield kicks off.

One of the self proclaimed "UTI men" (with @stuarthartshorn)

#PERUKI25
September 4, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Our vaccine effectiveness study has just been released.

"In keeping with the treatment to prevention principle of the #NHS 10 Year plan, we would ask all health care systems to consider how they will optimise the roll out of RSV vaccination for mothers"

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Bivalent prefusion F vaccination in pregnancy and respiratory syncytial virus hospitalisation in infants in the UK: results of a multicentre, test-negative, case-control study
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) in infants younger than 6 months globally. A mater…
www.sciencedirect.com
July 19, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Reposted by Prof. Damian Roland
Short excerpt on impact of #measles and importance of #vaccination
June 25, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Prof. Damian Roland
Thanks for inviting us to take part in this Vital paper showing that PEWS is able to
Detect clinical
Deterioration in children. So it would be good to use the same PEW scoring system. Go national PEWS! @damianroland.bsky.social #greatnorthchildrenshospital @mariekeemonts.bsky.social
July 7, 2025 at 9:34 AM
"..higher Uncertainty Tolerance was linked to doctor well-being but its impact on resource use & patient outcomes remains unclear"

Lots of potential confounders but does your approach to risk impact on longer term enjoyment of Emergency Medicine?

emj.bmj.com/content/42/1...
Is emergency doctors’ tolerance of clinical uncertainty on a novel measure associated with doctor well-being, healthcare resource use and patient outcomes?
Introduction Emergency doctors routinely face uncertainty—they work with limited patient information, under tight time constraints and receive minimal post-discharge feedback. While higher uncertainty...
emj.bmj.com
July 1, 2025 at 9:49 PM