It’s been a busy few weeks, despite the reduced clinical ENT activity from COVID-19. The training of registrars has continued and the monthly regional training day involving trainees from London, Kent Surrey and Sussex took part via Microsoft teams. I gave a talk on laryngectomy and its complications – focusing mainly on pharyngocutaneous fistula and how to treat it. The day went well and feedback from the trainees was very positive.
I have continued with my vaccination training and have now completed the AstraZeneca training module meaning I can administer both the Pfizer BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines. I have administered my first vaccines at one of the vaccination hubs in Ashford and have sessions booked in Canterbury over the next few weeks. Once administered, the information is uploaded onto a National Database to record the administration of the vaccine to every individual.
I was due to travel to Belgium with a colleague to undertake a robotics head and neck course. We had completed both online and onsite training modules with Intuitive on the DaVinci Robot In preparation for the course. Unfortunately, due to last minute pandemic travel restrictions, and concerns about the different variants spreading across the globe, the trip was cancelled and had to be postponed to a later date. This has sadly led to a delay in the start of the Kent Head & Neck Robotics Programme.
Finally, the only study day allowed to continue at the Trust was the tracheostomy training day. It was deemed essential due the changing working environment from COVID-19 and the distribution of complex head and neck patients across additional wards in the Hospital. The course was a short workshop on emergency tracheostomy care following the completion of an online training module. I was part of the faculty and there were 40 delegates on the day. I ran both practical hands on training and question and answer sessions for the delegates. The course went very well and feedback has been incredibly positive.