Thursday 26th September 2024
Health Point
A Medical Signposting Service for Refugees
Dr Rosie Isaac
Dr Rosie Isaac is currently working as a GP in Torbay Hospital ED and in Alderney, in the Channel Islands, as a Remote and Rural GP.
After qualifying as a GP, Rosie worked in refugee camps in Dunkirk, France, in 2017, and in Bangladesh, in 2019.
In 2021, she founded Health Point, a medical signposting service for refugees and asylum seekers, based within the Devon & Cornwall Refugee Support charity.
In this talk, Dr Isaac will share her experiences from working with refugees in France and Bangladesh.
She will give an overview of the refugee situation in the UK and provide insight into the refugee journey across continents to the UK.
Rosie will talk about Health Point, the medical signposting service she founded in Plymouth, and for which she remains the Clinical Lead.
She will discuss some of the barriers to accessing services that are faced by the UK population of refugees and asylum seekers.
Join us to hear Rosie Issac speak on this topical and challenging subject.
Thursday 24th October 2024
RRS Sir David Attenborough
Providing Medical Support in the Worlds Most Inhospitable Places
Dr Jenna Plank
Dr Jenna Plank is an Emergency Medicine specialty doctor currently working at Salisbury District Hospital in Wiltshire.
In 2021 she was the doctor for the Royal Research Ship Sir David Attenborough on its maiden voyage to the Antarctic Peninsula, supporting operations for the British Antarctic Survey.
A change in circumstance after six months then meant Jenna switched from being sea based to land based when she was dropped off on the island of South Georgia.
Her new misison was to provide medical support for the island research base through the Southern Polar winter.
Through the medium of photos Jenna will share her experience of providing medical support to teams of operatives in one of the most remote places in the world.
Join us to hear her story - illustrated by some spectacular photography...
Thursday 28th November 2024
Virtual Reality in Healthcare
Nick Peres
Nick Peres is the Programme Director of Innovation and Transformation at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust.
He is an innovator and researcher in the digital healthcare field, with experience in both broadcast media and the NHS for the last 12 years.
He has created cutting-edge projects for virtual reality (VR) healthcare solutions and pursued a PhD focusing on compassionate behaviour in medical education.
Nick is the founder of PatientVR - designed to educate healthcare workers on non-technical skills through immersive patient perspective scenarios.
He currently co-leads the Digital Futures programme at Torbay, which is nominated for a parliamentary award.
In his talk, Nick Peres will share his experience creating perspective-filmed content for virtual reality (VR), which harnesses the power of immersive storytelling to connect clinicians with the patient's journey.
Nick's work leverages emerging technologies, like VR, in a way that augments, rather than replaces, the human touch.
Nick will share the initiatives at Torbay in establishing the Digital Futures programme, which aims to bring new digital skills into the NHS workforce.
This pioneering programme has been recognised for its innovative approach, becoming blueprinted for NHS England.
Join us to hear how Nick believes we can chart a course towards a healthcare system that is both technologically advanced and profoundly human-centred.
Thursday 23rd January 2025
Unsound Convictions
Rebecca Helm
"More than 300 people. More than 600 years in custody..."
Professor Rebecca Helm is Director of the Evidence-Based Justice Lab at the University of Exeter Law School, and a UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellow.
She is an expert in the field of psychology and law, in using quantitative methodology to examine the legal system, and in developing new methodologies to enhance the reliability of the evidence-base underlying law and policy.
Rebecca is well-known for establishing the UK’s Miscarriages of Justice Registry, an interactive online database of known wrongful convictions.
Cases in the database are categorised in various ways in order to provide insight into systematic malfunctions in the criminal justice system.
In this talk, Rebecca will draw on the Miscarriages of Justice Registry, her research on legal decision-making, and her recent work on the Post-Office Horizon Scandal.
Join us to hear her insights into how legal procedure and infrastructure surrounding the justice system leave individuals vulnerable to wrongful conviction.
Thursday 27th February 2025
Torre Abbey
800 Years of History and New Beginnings
Lucinda Heron
Lucinda Heron started her second career, working with historic buildings, in 2004, having secured an honours degree in Heritage Management and Museum Studies from Plymouth University.
This followed almost 20 years raising four children whilst also working in the family hospitality business.
She was part of the team at Torre Abbey during the Phase 1 works before moving to the National Trust, taking management roles at properties including Greenway and Castle Drogo.
Lucinda was unable to resist the opportiunity to return to Torre Abbey as Manager in 2019 in which role she will oversee the next major restoration project.
This talk will provide a whistle-stop tour of the Abbey - Torbay's most historic building, with its 800 years of history.
Torre Abbey's recent major restoration project has uncovered exciting, new and rare archaeological finds which will provide ample opportunity to tell new stories.
Join us to hear the new plans for Torre Abbey which will secure its future for the next 800 years...
Thursday 27th March 2025
Time to Heal
Tales of a Country Doctor
Dr Michael Dixon
LVO, OBE, FRCGP, FRCP
Michael is an NHS GP at the Culm Valley Integrated Centre for Health in Cullompton, Devon.
He is Chair of the College of Medicine and Head of the Royal Medical Household.
He was previously a leader in the GP Commissioning movement as Chair of NHS Alliance (1998-2016) and President of NHS Clinical Commissioners (2012-2014).
He was co-founder of the National Social Prescribing Network in 2016 and became the first NHS England National Social Prescribing Clinical Champion the following year.
Michael is Visiting Professor at Westminster University.
His recent book “A Time to Heal – Tales of a Country Doctor” describes his views on General Practice - past and present.
Thursday 24th April 2025
TDMS Quiz Night
We will end the TDMS Season with our regular Quiz Night!
Entry will be £5 per person including a buffet, which will be available from 7:30pm, prior to an 8pm start.
The quiz will be a General Knowledge quiz - not a test of your medical knowledge - although there may be questions related to past talks given to the Society...!
Members are invited to form teams of up to 6 people to participate in the quiz.
If you do not have a team, or would like to top up with additonal team members, please let us know - or turn up on the night and we will make sure you are accommodated.
Please book your places in advance to help us manage the food requirements.