Faculty of Paediatrics Autumn Conference 2024 Addresses Key Issues in Child Health

On 11 October 2024, more than 300 attendees gathered both online and at the historic No. 6 Kildare Street for the annual Faculty of Paediatrics Autumn Conference. This year’s theme, Poverty and Progress in Child Health, brought together leading voices in paediatrics to explore both challenges and breakthroughs in the field.  

The conference opened with timely updates on clinical programmes and new hospital developments, with presentations from: 

• Clinical Program in Paediatrics Update - Professor Ellen Crushell, Consultant in Metabolic Diseases in CHI at Temple St & CHI at Crumlin 

• Clinical Program in Neonatology Model of Care for Neonatal Services in Ireland (2nd Edition) - Professor John Murphy, National Clinical Lead in Neonatology, National Maternity Hospital and Temple St. Hospital 

• Chief Academic Officer Children’s Health Ireland Update - Professor Susa Benseler, Chief Academic Officer and Head of Paediatrics Health Affairs, Children’s Health Ireland 

The conference also included a series of Clinical Pearls sessions in paediatrics and neonatology, covering a variety of topics: 

• Aetiology of Sensori-neural Hearing Loss - What’s New and Future Hopes - Dr Joanne Balfe, Consultant Paediatrician Children’s Health Ireland, Tallaght & Professor Nick van der Spek Consultant Paediatrician 

• Clinical Pearls: Paediatric Rheumatology - Dr Orla Killeen, Consultant Paediatrician and Adolescent Rheumatology, CHI Crumlin  

• Paediatric Cardiology – Updates for the General Paediatrician - Professor Orla Franklin, Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist in Children’s Health Ireland 

• Urgent Intubation - Video Laryngoscopy for Intubation in Newborn Infants - Professor Colm O’Donnell, National Maternity Hospital and School of Medicine, UCD 

This year’s Ralph Counahan Memorial Lecture was delivered by Professor Laura Viani, Consultant Otolaryngologist and Neuro-Otologist at Beaumont Hospital and Temple Street University Children’s Hospital, on the topic of “Journey out of Silence”. 

The final session of the day focused on poverty and disadvantage in childhood, featuring presentations from: 

• Health Inequalities, Children and Young People - Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London 

• Making Ireland the Best Place in Europe to Be a Child - Deputy Dr Leo Varadkar, TD, Former Taoiseach  

• Children at the Deep End Professor - Professor Susan Smith, Professor of General Practice, Trinity College Dublin 

The session closed with a lively panel discussion featuring Tanya Ward, Chief Executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance, alongside Deputy Dr Leo Varadkar and Professor Susan Smith, sparking conversations on actionable strategies for a fairer future for children.  

In a special ceremony afterwards, the Faculty of Paediatrics welcomed three Honorary Fellows - Deputy Dr Leo Varadkar, Prof Laura Viani and Dr Richard O’Reilly.