Dr Amy Norrington has been a Consultant in Paediatric Anaesthesia at The James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough since 2014. She graduated from University College London with Batchelor of Medicine and Surgery and a BSc (Hons) in Medical History in 2003, and then moved to the north east to complete her anaesthetic training programme. She undertook paediatric anaesthesia fellowships at both the Great North Children’s Hospital and The Leeds Children’s Hospital and additional training in neonatal intensive care and general paediatrics. She undertakes regular anaesthetic work in ENT, Orthopaedics, Plastic surgery, and Ophthalmology. She has a specialist interest in development of pre assessment services for of children and young people and the management of anaesthetic anxiety. She is the chair of the APAGBI Paediatric Perioperative medicine group and a regional clinical lead for children and young people’s preoperative assessment for GIRFT. She has collaborated on several preoperative care projects with GIRFT, CPOC and the Royal College of Anaesthetists. She was lead author for the APAGBI/CPOC 2026 Best Practice Guidance for Preoperative Care Services for Children and Young People and the 2026 Best Practice Guidance for the Preparation and Management of Children and Young People with individual needs requiring surgery or procedures. She developed the ‘Pre assessment in a box,’ a resource to advance national service development within children’s perioperative services and regularly teaches on the national preoperative practitioners course.

Dr Richard Newton is a consultant paediatric anaesthetist at Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital.  He is an active member of the Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland Scientific and Airway committee.

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He has a longstanding interest in paediatric TIVA and is part of the TIVA for TOTS group who lecture and run workshops on this subject.

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His talk will look at the evidence for TIVA in paediatric practice alongside practical tips and strategies to help you start or develop your own TIVA practice.

Kerry Starkey is a Consultant Anaesthetist with a history of 17 years’ service in the Royal Army Medical Corps. She has specialist interests in paediatrics, critical care retrieval, and major trauma, with strengths in research, quality improvement, and working under pressure in challenging environments.

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She is currently a Post-CCT Clinical Fellow at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, following progressive clinical roles across leading institutions that have broadened her expertise in anaesthetics.

Kerry holds a medical degree from Newcastle Medical School and a PhD in Medicine from the University of Wales Cardiff, alongside leadership and management qualifications.

Her research has produced publications in respected journals including Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society and Shock, covering trauma clinical governance and critical care outcomes. She has also led audits and quality improvement initiatives to strengthen patient safety and care standards.

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Outside medicine, Kerry is an enthusiastic middle- to long-distance triathlete and fundraiser for causes including UNICEF and the Royal British Legion. Her clinical expertise, commitment to improvement, and focus on patient care continue to shape her contribution to anaesthetics.

I’ve been a consultant at Sheffield Children’s for the last 15 years and have an interest in ENT anaesthetist and the difficult airway. I’m the Airway Lead for the trust and have taught on various aspects of the paediatric airway over the years.

Formerly Lead for Paediatric Anaesthesia at North Thames Paediatric Network and at Barnet Hospital, London. This is a mid-sized DGH with elective paediatric surgical services. I was a trained specialist paediatric anaesthetist. I developed an interest in outcomes for children presenting to secondary care and organisational solutions to support consultant anaesthetists.

Consultant Paediatric Anaesthetist, Birmingham Children's Hospital.
Background/Interests: Pain/PIC/Trauma/Sim

Consultant paediatric anaesthetist and neonatal lead.

Dr Liz Shepherd has been a Consultant Paediatric Anaesthetist at Sheffield Children’s Hospital since 2009. Her clinical interests include neonatal surgery,  paediatric neuroanaesthesia and regional anaesthesia for major orthopaedic surgery.

In addition to her clinical work, she leads the human factors team within the surgical care group. Her work focuses on understanding how human behaviour, team dynamics, and system design influence patient safety and clinical performance. She is particularly passionate about promoting psychological safety within healthcare teams, fostering environments where individuals feel able to speak up, share concerns, learn from mistakes, and contribute to continuous improvement. Through multidisciplinary education and team training she supports the development of resilient, high performing teams and the delivery of safer care for children and their families.

I have been a Consultant Anaesthetist and Paediatric lead in St Richard's for 5 years, having completed Advanced training at the Evelina. As part of a new job plan for the last year, I have been working at Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital in Brighton for monthly sessions. Looking forward to meeting like-minded colleagues in the Midlands!