Today was a full day of audit and clinical effectiveness (ACE) at Wythenshawe Hospital. As well as great talks on the Coronial process, mental capacity and a talk to the head and neck unit from our director of operations we had the opportunity to roll out this initiative that has come from East Lancs NHS Trust. It is called 10,000ft (3048m!) and uses a simple concept to allow all team members to highlight problems, concerns and times when extra concentration is needed - particularly in the operating theatre #10000ft #MFT #patientsafety

This weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to crew a 40ft yacht - sailing around the Solent in the 2018 NHS regatta. We had a crew of 8 - consultant colleagues from Wythenshawe Hospital. Over the 2 days of racing, our best positions were 1st, 1st, 2nd and 5th and we won the regatta overall. A proud achievement and a great introduction to sailing. 

This year it was a trip down to the NEC in Birmingham for an excellent conference. There was a fascinating talk by barrister Nick Deal on the CPR Part 35 rules and an interesting and interactive session with Scot Darling on a variety of medico-legal scenarios
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I had an enjoyable morning discussing interview skills and techniques with some of our really keen and enthusiastic North West and Mersey ENT trainees. As promised - the handout is below to download - good luck for the interviews next year - I'm sure you'll all do really well!
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Last week I attended an excellent seminar in London organised by Premex+ The seminar was a great introduction to the basic of medical negligence law and the requirements needed to be an Expert Witness in that field. Thanks to the team for organising it. 

I am excited to be going to the American Association of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery annual meeting next week. This is the largest ENT conference in the World and I am hoping to come back buzzing with new ideas and innovations. 

The abstract program has been published and I hope to attend and learn from as many sessions as I can. 

​http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/sage/oto_supp_conferenceabstracts_201609/

Last week, I attended the NoEENT meeting in Bury. It was a packed programme and congratulations to @GhoshENTsurgeon on organising such an interesting and though-provoking day with talks on neck dissection, allergic fungal rhinosinusitis and a fascinating talk by Dr Daniel Sokol - barrister and medical ethicist on truth-telling and deception in medicine. 

The 'Gold Standard' treatment for sleep disordered breathing is CPAP. This is not always achievable in all patients and in those who are intolerant of it or in patients in whom it does not work we do sometimes need to resort to surgery. This article has been commissioned by ENT & Audiology News and outlines some of the surgical treatment options available. 

It has been a busy couple of months for me on the research side. I have published two papers recently. One was a case report on brain tissue in the wrong place found incidentally in the nasal sinuses. 

http://file.scirp.org/Html/5-2460275_54342.htm


The other was part of a collaborative paper led by Carl Philpott at the University of East Anglia looking at the burden of surgery in chronic rhinosinusitis


http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e006680.full?sid=ef35e2f6-3dff-46d6-8da5-83ed3df7d32a

The AAO-HNS have just published some guidelines on the management of sinusitis. They are also advocating nasal rinses and douches for treatment. The recipe is below.