Saturday, 29th November ANZSPM Update

Australia Room 1

Awards Presentation with Dr Gauri Gogna

0900-0905 - Welcome to Day Two

Mark Boughey

0905-0935 - Gut Failure in the Paediatric context

Zoë McCallum, Developmental Paediatrician and Clinical Nutrition Specialist

Zoe McCallum is neurodevelopmental paediatrician with three decades of clinical experience. 
She works at Royal Children's Hospital providing care to children and adolescents with severe neurological impairment and medical complexity in both inpatient and outpatient settings.  She has experience in bioethics and provision of end-of-life care. 

Bronwyn Sacks, Head of VIC Paediatric Palliative Care Program

Dr Bronwyn Sacks is a paediatric palliative care specialist, with an interest in clinical ethics and palliative care service development. She holds postgraduate qualifications in Master of Bioethics, and Associate Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators. Bronwyn holds positions at Very Special Kids Hospice, the Royal Children’s Hospital and Monash Children’s Hospital Melbourne. She has contributed to research, advocacy and policy in paediatric palliative care, and is current Director of the Victorian Paediatric Palliative Care Program. Bronwyn draws on two decades of experience in the challenging healthcare of children receiving palliative care to inform her clinical practice.

0935-1015 - Home Parenteral Nutrition (HPN) in advanced malignancy

Emma Bidgood, Specialist Intestinal Failure Dietitian – Gastroenterology and Intestinal Failure Clinical Nutrition, The Royal Melbourne Hospital

Emma Bidgood is a Senior Nutrition Support and Gastroenterology Dietitian at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, with over 15 years of experience in nutrition support across both the Australian and UK healthcare systems. She specialises in complex surgical nutrition support, chronic intestinal failure, and home parenteral nutrition. Emma holds an advanced scope of practice in ordering parenteral nutrition and is actively involved in mentoring and teaching within the area of surgical nutrition support.

Beth Hede, Clinical Nutrition Nurse Consultant at The Royal Melbourne Hospital

Beth Hede is a Clinical Nurse Consultant at RMH with over 20 years nursing experience and has worked in a variety of roles across the nursing profession. She has been in the current role for over 13 years. She brings with her a wealth of knowledge in the management of inpatient PN, out-patient PN, central venous catheters and enteral feeding devices. Beth is passionate about improving the patient experience of those receiving clinical nutrition care in the health care setting. 

1015-1030 - Panel discussion - Q&A

11.00am- 11.30am- Wound Management for the 21^st Century

Dr Pat Aldons, Senior Visiting Consultant Physician, Prince Charles Hospital

A Visiting Consultant Physician at The Prince Charles Hospital, specializing in Cardio-Thoracic Medicine, Infection, and Wound Management. He co-founded the Wound Clinic at TPCH in 1991 and continues to focus on both simple and complex wounds. Dr Aldons played a key role in establishing Queensland’s “Hospital in the Home” program and helped found the Australian Wound Management Association (now Wounds Australia).

He has a long-standing commitment to medical education and clinical research, having led over 40 clinical trials and contributed widely to postgraduate and undergraduate teaching. He has been an invited speaker in 19 countries. Dr Aldons was awarded Life Membership of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2017 and Wounds Australia in 2024 for his outstanding contributions.

11.30am - 12.00pm - Holding Space for Comfort: Practical Strategies for Palliative Wound Management

Hermione Shea, Wound Clinical Nurse Consultant, Alfred Health, Lecturer (Wound Care), Monash University

Hermione Shea is a Wound Clinical Nurse Consultant at Alfred Health, where she provides specialist input across acute, subacute and community services. Her clinical expertise spans pressure injury prevention, complex wound assessment, and palliative wound care, with a strong focus on person-centred, evidence-based management. Hermione also lectures into the postgraduate Master of Wound Care program at Monash University, where she integrates current research and clinical practice. She is passionate about improving quality of life for people living with wounds, and supporting clinicians to deliver empathetic and practical wound care in complex settings

12.00pm - 12.30pm  - Panel Q&A

AChPM Chapter Meeting will take place from 12.45 - 13.15

Australia Room 1

13:15 - 13:45 - Advanced Neurological Therapies in 2025 - The Era of Disease Modifying Treatments

Dr Ian Woodcock, Paediatric Neurologist, Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne

Ian Woodcock is a paediatric neurologist at the Royal Children’s Hospital and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. He completed his PhD in 2024 and was involved in the translational change to prepare the Melbourne Children’s Campus to be an approved gene therapy centre culminating in the first patient being treated with gene therapy at RCH in July 2021. He is principal investigator for five current and planned gene therapy clinical trials in SMA and DMD.

13:45 - 14:15 - Adapting Advance Care Planning for young adults with disability

Dr Kate Irving, Neurologist at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne & Royal Children’s Hospital

Dr Kate Irving is a paediatric neurologist and medical historian from Melbourne, with a longstanding interest in childhood-onset disability. Her current work draws on experiences with the RCH-VRSS transition service and the Young Adult Neuromuscular Clinic at St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne. She has a book under contract with UNC Press on Disability Before Eugenics.

1415 - 1445 - Panel discussion

Chair: Dr Florry O' Connell, Palliative Medicine Specialist

Pannelists:

Dr Odette Sprujt, Medical Director, Launceston Specialist Palliative Care Service

Dr Odette Spruijt is the Medical Director, Specialist Palliative Care Service North, Tasmanian Health Service. She has worked in all sectors of palliative care, community, hospice, and consultative services. She has held several leadership roles in palliative care in Australia and New Zealand, including past president of Australia New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine.

Dr Jacqueline Duc, Staff Specialist Palliative Care

Dr Jacqui Duc is a paediatric and adult palliative care physician with a secret paediatrician past. She has lived and worked in Victoria, the Northern Territory, Queensland, New Zealand, Canada and Haiti but now very happily calls regional NSW home. Jacqui is a staff specialist working with the Western NSW LHD Palliative Care Team, with a special interest in telehealth medicine, indigenous health and outreach to rural and remote communities. She is passionate about Closing the Gap, and fair and equitable access to best practice palliative and end of life care for all Australians, including those that live regionally and remotely.

Mark Boughey, Clinical Director Palliative Care

Mark has over 35 years of experience in palliative care, with leadership positions within State & Territory, National, and international organisations and programs.  Marks continues to strive for palliative care excellence and its universal integration in health care, where people feel valued and understood, needs are recognized, and appropriately responded to

Bernadette Orange, Nurse Practitioner Palliative Care

Bernadette began her nursing career at Orange Base Hospital in NSW, graduating in 1985. Bernadette has worked across rural NSW hospitals in High Dependency and Emergency departments before transitioning to Community Health Palliative Care in 2006.

Inspired by the value of volunteer support, Bernadette championed the establishment of a local Palliative Care Volunteer Service for Parkes and surrounding areas. Through her leadership and collaboration with a local NGO, Neighbourhood Central, the first volunteers were trained in 2012, a program that continues to thrive today.

Dedicated to delivering compassionate, person-centred care, Bernadette remains an integral part of the Western NSW Specialist Palliative Care team. She completed her Master of Nurse Practitioner in November 2024 and continues to advance palliative and community care across the Western NSW, with a special interest in providing outreach services to remote communities.