WITS meeting

The WITS 2019 meeting will be held 11th September at the Life Sciences Hub, Cardiff Bay.

The programme will include:

  • Novichok - Dr Stephen Jukes, Salisbury NHS Trust

  • Sleep and the Intensivist - Dr Michael Farquhar, Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Trust

  • Post-ICU clinics - Dr Jack Parry-Jones, Aneurin Bevan UHB

  • “Critical” - Dr Matt Morgan, Cardiff and Vale UHB

  • Infectious Diseases - Dr Brendan Healy, Cardiff and Vale UHB

  • Burns - Dr Katy Beard, Swansea Bay UHB

  • Trainee presentation competition (with 1st and 2nd prizes)

  • WITS elections

Please note: registration has now closed

Welsh Government announcement

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services, Vaughan Gething, announced this week the allocation of additional £15 million funding to implement a coordinated improvement programme for the care of the critically ill. Having acknowledged the challenges faced by Welsh critical care services through capacity constraints and a particular need to relieve pressure on sites developing specialist regional pathways, the Task and Finish group has made recommendations according to seven work streams (capacity, workforce, PACU, transfers, long-term ventilation, outreach and performance).

This is a positive development for critical care in Wales, has raised the profile of the work staff in critical care provide, and provided a significant opportunity for critical care services to engage with health board priority setting.

Oversight of the implementation of this work will now pass to the Critical Illness Implementation Group and Welsh Critical Care and Trauma Network.