Speakers

Alice completed her medical school training in Sheffield, general paediatric training within the Wessex Deanery, and paediatric neurology training in Southampton.

She has worked as a Consultant Paediatric Neurologist at Southampton Children’s Hospital since March 2020.

Alice provides outpatient and inpatient neurology services for children across the Wessex region. She has a particular interest in complex tone and movement disorders.

Outside of work, Alice plays the saxophone in two bands, enjoys tennis and running, and loves spending downtime with her husband and two teenagers.

Elizabeth van Boxel is a Paediatric Consultant at Southampton Children’s Hospital with a special interest in diabetes and obesity. She has been actively involved in establishing the Southampton Paediatric Complications of Excess Weight Service and has led a number of educational initiatives across the South East CEW Network, including establishing the PIER Childhood Obesity Course.

Dr Alasdair Munro is a clinical lecturer in paediatric immunology and infectious diseases at the University of Southampton and Southampton Children’s Hospital. His research interests include early and late phase clinical trials of vaccines and antibiotics.

Benjamin is a Paediatric Registrar based in North London. He is passionate about PEM, medical education and improving the experiences and safety of autistic children in emergency departments.

He’s often spotted in funky scrubs, bubble gun holstered at the hip and mid-magic trick for a three-year-old.

Georgina is a Consultant Paediatric Neurologist at University Hospital Southampton (UHS) and Clinical Lead for Child Health. She leads the Southampton Paediatric Inpatient Neurorehabilitation (SPIN) service, where she champions a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to care for children with acquired brain injury.

Georgina is passionate about ensuring that every child receives tailored support that both challenges and nurtures them at the right pace. Her work focuses on enabling each child to maximise their long-term potential through personalised rehabilitation pathways and coordinated MDT care.

Abi (they/them) is a Wessex paediatric trainee with a specialist interest in adolescent health. They also work for the Children and Young People’s Gender Service (London).

They are currently a PhD student, examining the intersection of Transgender and Gender-Diverse children and young people, neurodevelopmental differences and diagnoses, and their impact on physical health. Their interests include mental health, ethics, LGBT+ health and accessibility to healthcare.

Ahmed is a paediatric intensive care consultant at Southampton Children’s Hospital, having trained in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. In addition to caring for critically ill children on the PICU, he is part of the Southampton Oxford Retrieval Team (SORT), providing critical care transfers to patients across the Thames Valley and Wessex area, as well as the Channel Islands, using road ambulances, fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft. He is also the lead for the PICU Outreach Service providing critical care training and education to all paediatric hospitals within the region.

Ahmed is active in the teaching schedules of the Paediatric Innovation Education and Research (PIER) Network and has created a number of educational videos that are hosted on the website. He is also a member of the Paediatric Critical Care Society’s wellbeing group, which aims to improve wellbeing across all PICU staff in the country through sharing good practice and conducting collaborative research projects.

Ahmed is a Patient Safety Education Specialist at UHS, and is interested in human factors and how they pertain to patient safety. As part of the trust simulation team, he is particularly interested in how simulation can be used to test systems and aid learning after patient safety incidents.

Pam is a Paediatric Specialist Doctor at University Hospital Southampton. Her research focuses on vaccines and immunology, with a particular interest in vaccination around pregnancy and early life.

Outside of work, she’s a keen football fan and an enthusiast of all things science (and the statistics that make sense of it).

Abhi is a Paediatric ST4 trainee currently out of training and about to start an MD to learn more about all things research!

Outside of work, she can be found chasing after a toddler or watching the latest crime drama!

Kerstin trained at Great Ormond Street Hospital and the German Centre for Rheumatology, and holds a PhD from the University of Heidelberg. She leads inpatient and outpatient rheumatology services for children across Wessex and beyond at Southampton Children’s Hospital, with a particular interest in hyperinflammatory conditions including HLH and MAS.

Outside of work, Kerstin loves horses, the countryside, and time with her family.

Dr Jo Potier is a Chartered Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Director of Culture & Organisational Development at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, with over 25 years’ experience in child, adolescent and adult mental health.

She leads on organisational culture, leadership and staff wellbeing, and is clinical founder of an award-winning staff support service. Jo provides psychological consultation to senior leaders and leads on the strategic planning and delivery of staff support, debriefing and risk assessment following critical incidents.

Jo has extensive experience in paediatric settings and specialises in supporting healthcare teams working in high-pressure environments, including emergency care. Her work during the COVID-19 pandemic gained national and international recognition for its impact on staff wellbeing.

In addition to her NHS role, she has contributed to national guidance on staff support as a subject matter expert for the College of Policing, and regularly teaches and speaks on leadership, trauma, organisational resilience and reflective practice.

She brings deep expertise in responding to the psychological impact of major incidents, with a focus on practical, compassionate approaches to supporting staff and sustaining team resilience.

Neeraj has worked in Wessex since 2012, completing paediatric training followed by sub-specialty paediatric neurology training, and joined the paediatric neurology team as a consultant in 2023. As well as covering neurology on call and outpatients at UHS, she runs monthly regional clinics at Queen Alexandra Hospital and Frimley Park Hospital.

She has an interest in paediatric neuro-inflammation and is part of the BPNA UK Childhood Neuro-Inflammatory Disorders special interest group.

Gabriella is a Paediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology Specialist Registrar at University Hospital Southampton.

She completed a Diploma in Tropical Medicine at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and then went to work at the MRC Unit, The Gambia, researching Rheumatic Heart Disease and Group A Streptococcus. Returning to London, she completed core paediatric training followed by a year working in Cambodia at Angkor Hospital for Children as a research clinician, focused on neonatal mortality in the rural province of Preah Vihear. She started subspecialty training in 2020 in Southampton.

Matt Harmer is a Consultant Paediatric Nephrologist at Southampton Children’s Hospital. He specialises in the care of children and young people with kidney disease, including congenital kidney disorders, chronic kidney disease, and acute kidney injury.

In addition to his clinical practice, Dr Harmer is an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Southampton, and a University Hospital Southampton Research Leaders Programme Fellow developing better ways of caring for children living with kidney disease.

Mel is passionate about all things PEM especially resus, major trauma and of course POCUS! Her recent PEM masters dissertation explored regional use of ultrasound across all London CEDs. She is currently fundraising with UHS charity for a departmental ultrasound and developed a Wessex regional paediatric ultrasound vascular access course. Outside of work you will often find Mel at a gig!

Catherine has worked within Long Term Ventilation (LTV) at UHS for the past 8 years, supporting both tracheostomy and non-invasively ventilated children and young people throughout their journey. Her current role, funded by the charity WellChild as part of the "Better at Home" project, focuses on providing training and education for families and the multidisciplinary teams who support them. Prior to working within LTV, she worked in PICU in Southampton and Royal Brompton Hospital, as well as within the community as a Special School Nurse. Throughout her career, she has cared for children with complex healthcare needs and remains passionate about improving long-term ventilation care through education, collaboration, and innovative practice.

Emma started her career in the NHS in Feb 2012 as a HCA in Obs and Gynae theatres.

Her training as an Operating Department Practitioner (ODP) began September 2012 until September 2014. On completion of her training, she worked as an ODP in main theatres at University Hospital Southampton. Moving to Critical care in December 2016 as a Critical Care Technologist which is a varied and challenging role covering GICU, CICU, PICU and major trauma.

Emma’s workload on adult intensive care includes, PICC line insertions, hemofiltration, assisting bronchoscopy’s, percutaneous tracheostomies and intubations, facilitating all level 3 transfers both inter and intra hospital.

On PICU Emma provides nitric, CFAM and is a member of the Southampton Oxford Retrieval team. In her spare time Emma enjoys sewing and marathon running.

Dr Lauren Fraser is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine with Paediatric Emergency Medicine subspecialty training and currently serves as Divisional Medical Director for Medicine, Emergency & Therapies at London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust. She has extensive experience in paediatric emergency care, clinical leadership and service transformation within large acute NHS organisations.

Dr Fraser has a longstanding interest in paediatric toxicology, paediatric sepsis and improving outcomes for vulnerable children and young people presenting to emergency departments. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Toxicology from Cardiff University and has contributed to regional and pan-London improvement initiatives focused on paediatric patient safety and urgent care pathways.

Dr Norah Yap is a Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist with an interest in electrophysiology and inherited cardiac diseases at University Hospitals Southampton NHS Trust.She trained in Wessex and completed a fellowship in inherited cardiac diseases at GOSH. She also completed a post-CCT fellowship in paediatric electrophysiology and inherited cardiac conditions at the Royal Brompton Hospital.

Richard has cared in a pastoral way for the local Jehovah’s Witness community for over 30 years.

For the past 15 years he has been working as a member of the Hospital Liaison Committee for Jehovah’s Witnesses, supporting members of the community and interacting with clinicians when facing elective surgery and medical emergency situations.

Kate Blake is the Lead Paediatric Advanced Clinical Practitioner at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust and has over 30 years’ experience working across acute paediatric services. She supports the development and delivery of advanced clinical practice across children’s services, with interests in urgent and emergency care, education, and quality improvement.

Kate has led several service improvement initiatives, including introducing rapid assessment and discharge pathways to improve patient flow and patient experience. Alongside her clinical role, she is involved in teaching, supervision, and workforce development, and regularly contributes to regional and national education events.

Kirsty is a Paediatric Emergency Medicine ST7 Grid Trainee working at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool. She has worked across Scotland, England, Australia and New Zealand during her training and is due to complete her training this summer before taking up a consultant position back home in Scotland. Between shifts, she spends alot of time in the mountains- hiking, camping and trail running.

Francesca Stedman is a consultant paediatric surgeon at Southampton Children’s Hospital with a specialist interest in colorectal pathology as well as non technical skills and education. She enjoys her frequent surgical on call as every single day is different and she is well known for her midnight laparotomies.

Francesca runs the simulation based surgical skills training within the department, is the Wessex School of Surgery lead for Human Factors and is committed to looking after the wellbeing of the department mainly by providing baked goods for meetings.

In her free time Francesca enjoys cycling, running and baking as well as camping with her young family.

Bimal is a paediatrician specialising in emergency medicine. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. He works as a consultant in one of the busiest children’s ED in the UK, which is a major trauma centre and the front door of a specialist paediatric hospital.

Bimal has been a clinical lead for a paediatric trauma network since its inception in 2012. He has been a member of NHSE Clinical Reference Group for Major Trauma. While Bimal does not deliver pre-hospital care, he has provided paediatric input into the development of the European Pre-hospital Trauma Care Course and the NHS Major Incident Triage Tool.

Bimal is particularly interested in improving the provision of emergency and urgent care for children wherever they might first present; and has contributed in various roles to shaping services for ill and injured children across the UK.

Right now, he is doing that by being: Clinical Director for Urgent Care at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Co-Clinical Lead for the North-West Children’s Major Trauma Network, a RCPCH member of the Intercollegiate Committee for Standards for Children and Young People, paediatric representative for NHS Pathways Clinical Assurance Group and Chair of the Advanced Paediatric Life Support working group.

Roger Webb is a Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon at UHS. He trained as an undergraduate in both Dentistry and Medicine at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Medical and Dental Schools and completed his OMF Registrar training within the Wessex Deanery gaining a CCT in November 2009. He spent his first 5 years as a Consultant at King’s where he developed his interest in trauma management. He has been an ATLS instructor since 2007 and Course Director for the UHS ATLS Programme since 2019. He is also an accredited ETC Course Instructor. Apart from trauma surgery, his elective practice is largely in Orthognathic Surgery and Skin Cancer.

Mr Lindisfarne has been a Consultant Paediatric Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgeon at Southampton since February 2020. He has a specialist interest in treating paediatric hip conditions including DDH, Perthes and SUFE; he also runs the Paediatric Upper Limb service, with specialist clinics in congenital conditions, and upper limb spasticity. He completed registrar training in Kent Surrey & Sussex, and fellowships in Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgery at Southampton Children’s Hospital, and in Children’s Orthopaedic Surgery and Limb reconstruction at Bristol Children’s Hospital. He has presented research nationally and internationally with recent publications on DDH, SUFE and elbow instability.

Luke Shirley-Mansell is a Paediatric Advanced Clinical Practitioner at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust. Luke has a keen interest in minor injury presentations across acute and emergency care. Outside of his dedicated clinical time, Luke has taken a keen interest in the education of medical, nursing and allied health professionals, creating a bespoke education programme each month for all with an interest in paediatric emergency medicine. Further to this, Luke operates an outreach service to local urgent treatment centres and minor injury units, ensuring they benefit from expert education, evidence updates and long-term clinical supervision.

In his free time, Luke can often be found out and about, riding his horse, Susan.

Mr Fre Alemseged Hadera is a senior spinal fellow at UHS.