NTSP Specials (Season 2): Brendan & Prue discuss ITS10

Prue Gregson is an SLP who manages the TRAMS Service at Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia. Prue is also leading the team planning (and running) the 10th International Tracheostomy Symposium held in October 2026 in Melbourne. Prue gives us a sneak preview of what to expect at ITS10 and how to get invovled! 

The UK National Tracheostomy Safety Project (NTSP) is committed to providing education, information and resources to improve patient safety and the patient experience for those with tracheostomies and laryngectomies. All of our resources are housed on our website www.tracheostomy.org.uk, accessed by over 30,000 visitors each month from around the world.

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Our goal is to improve the safety and quality of care for patients with tracheostomies and laryngectomies through education. We work closely with patients, families and healthcare professionals to develop new resources to improve care. We’ve collaborated with key stakeholders in tracheostomy care since 2009, and developed freely accessible resources, supported by online learning developed with the UK Department of Health. We’ve worked with the Global Tracheostomy Collaborative since 2012 to improve care for patients and their families everywhere.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

So welcome to Tracky Talk. We have got a special guest. We've got Prue Gregson who is currently in Melbourne. So I'm in Manchester on a Thursday evening, and Prue's gone in to work early on a Friday morning because of the time differences. So what I'll do is say hi to Prue and get Prue to introduce herself and tell you all about what she does.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Fantastic. Thank you, Brendan. It's wonderful to be here and to be able to chat with you. Thank you for the opportunity. So I'm Prue Gregson. I'm the manager of the Tracheostomy Review and Management Service at Boston Health in Melbourne, Australia. My background is as a speech pathologist. I have a couple of decades under my belt of speech pathology, predominantly working in critical care, always with a special interest in tracheostomy. I've also worked across the continuum of care, so really understand the patient journey from ICU to the wards and into the community. A little bit about trans. We are a multidisciplinary service, so we comprise of speech pathologists, physiotherapists, nursing, and also respiratory physicians. We are a truly consultative service. So we see patients outside of the ICU on the wards and help support all of the staff caring for those individuals with tracheostomy. We go across to our subacute sites and also have a ward in the community, if you like, of patients and individuals living with tracheostomy that we support long term. So we have a significant role in education and training across the organisation and also in research. So it's wonderful to be here and to be able to chat.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Oh, fantastic. And I mean, lots of people would have heard of trams and the work that you do. And I know I well, I worked in Melbourne a long time ago and uh went back out there in my sort of current role, and you were good enough to show us around uh the hospital and show us a bit about what trams are doing and some of the work that you were doing and and and have done and have continues to do is absolutely amazing, real sort of trail-blazing stuff. So uh yeah, thanks for trams for kicking off a lot of uh the uh sort of tracheostomy quality improvement work. The reason why we are having this conversation is because uh Prue is heavily involved in the International Tracheostomy Symposium, which is coming up later this year. So I thought it'd be a good thing, Prue, if you don't mind just telling us a little bit about the previous trache symposiums that have happened, where it all started, and you've been on a bit of a global roadshow. So go on, tell us a bit about the ITS.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

So the ITS was founded back in 2011. My fabulous predecessor, Tannis Cameron, who many of you may be aware of, um, kicked it off. It essentially grew out of recognition for shared tracheostomy care and recognising it's incredibly complex and truly multidisciplinary, recognising that patients move from ICU to the wards and into the community, and outcomes for patients are best when all of those teams work really well together. So in 2011 we hosted the first International Tracheostomy Symposium in Melbourne, which was a great success, and I think something that's very unique to the symposium is it's not one specific discipline running the event. It's for intensivists, surgeons, physicians, speech pathologists, physiotherapists, and most importantly, we have a consumer voice. So individuals living with tracheostomy, their patients and families are very much at the core front and centre of the ITS. We then hosted another event in 2014 and 2018, and it's been tremendous to see it picked up and run around the world globally. Yourself in Manchester, it has been run out of Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and the US a couple of times, um, in Dallas, Texas, and most recently in Chicago. So it is a truly global event, and um it's gone from strength to strength. It's really wonderful to see it be picked up and taken around the world, and it's wonderful to see it come back to Melbourne for its 10th anniversary.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Yeah, no, that's pretty cool. So I'm trying to remember the event in Texas. I'm pretty sure you were expecting one of your children at the time, and you got out of riding a mechanical bull in a nightclub that I sadly couldn't get out of. So yeah, uh, happy days with the ITS on tour. But yeah, I won't tell any of my family about that because I think I had a bad hip at the time. Um so we'll edit that bit out, definitely. So Melbourne is a fantastic city, and I can vouch for that having uh lived there for a good year or so, uh, a long time ago. So, what why should people come to Melbourne? Melbourne's a pretty cool place. Give us some Melbourne highlights.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Well, Melbourne is a beautiful city, the time of year that we're hosting the event, October 1st. It will be spring, so the weather is glorious. Uh, it will be on the back end of our Australian Football League, so our AFL Grand Finals. So there's a real buzz in the city at that time of year. Melbourne is incredibly metropolitan, there are lots of fabulous restaurants and bars, um, gorgeous parklands, there's the bay, um, lots of great shopping. So, we would go welcome anybody to come and experience the wonderful delights that we have in Melbourne.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

Yeah, fantastic. So, definitely extend your stay by a couple of days if you can, if you go into the ITS. Um, I I know as you just said you're celebrating the the 10th iteration of the uh the Trachee Symposium uh this year. So that the theme is shaping tomorrow, innovation, integration, and impact. And you you've changed the themes over the years. So tell us a little bit about the the theme for this year.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

I think really what we want to focus on is how we translate the the growing body of evidence in tracheostomy care into a consistent real-world practice. And there's so much positive outcomes that can happen with international collaboration, and it's really incredibly important because no single country, no single site, no single country has solved every challenge when it comes to tracheostomy care. And I think being able to hear from everybody in attendance about what has worked well, what are the plans for the future really has incredible strength and power in that. And looking at even your national tracheostomy safety project and the progress, the rapid progress that happens when you know we get groups together working together and the positive outcomes that that can have. So we're really excited for that with the ITS. We've seen it in the past, um, and certainly we're looking forward to the future and seeing what innovations um everybody has from around the globe.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

Yeah, fantastic. And I notice you've been uh sneaking out on some of the social media, some of the keynote speakers. So tell us a bit about who the uh the keynotes that you've got coming along.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

We're incredibly excited for our keynotes this year. We have your wonderful Professor Sarah Wallace who will be joining us, who's a speech language pathologist who will be coming along. We've also got Dr. or Professor Christopher Baker, who's out of Colorado, he's a pediatric pulmonologist. Um he's also the director of the ventilated care program at the Children's Hospital in Colorado, and he brings a wealth of expertise in the field of pediatric tracheostomy care as well as a quality and safety to his work as well. And we're incredibly excited to have a wonderful consumer, Perry Cross. He is a gentleman that sustained a C2 injury some 30 years ago that left him ventilator dependent. He has taken that and demonstrated incredible resilience, and he was inspired by the late Christopher Reeve, and he has started a um the Perry Cross Spinal Foundation, and it's one of Australia's leading arms and foundation for research into spinal cord injury. Uh, he's got an incredible story to tell, and we're very excited to have him on board as well.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

Yeah, that's really cool. So, but when you mentioned that that Perry was coming, I I I did look him up and uh yeah, what a story. Quite a an amazing fellow from you know what was potentially devastating injury to do what he's done is is is quite amazing. And uh I mean I've I've met and worked with a couple of patients that that have uh you know come through your service and and and and have done sort of work in collaboration with you. And yeah, I can remember first meeting patients as you're describing there, who'd uh there were there was particular patients, in my mind, who'd uh fallen off the roof, I think, and uh had a high C spine injury. But within a week or two, he was sat up in bed, eating, drinking, talking. And you know, I was absolutely blown away by the sort of dedication and and and the innovation that the you guys had to sort of turn your your patients round as quickly as possible, you know, what is such a devastating situation that that you know the the positivity and and the sort of can-do attitude that you guys bring. Uh so yeah, really looking forward to hearing from from Perry about his journey and uh you know all all the different things that that that he brings from a patient perspective. Absolutely. So one of the strengths I've noticed uh from the the ITSs over the years is meeting people from from different countries. And whilst you know the keynotes, the organized sessions are uh are something I really look forward to, the the conversations around the sort of poster corridors and over a coffee or or a beer in the evening, they're the times when I really get to talk to people and learn about what's going on in in other parts of the world. And and it sounds like you're making a big thing again of the international collaboration this time.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

So we're incredibly fortunate. There is a wonderful, uh dynamic group of individuals who are working tirelessly behind the scenes on the international tracheostomy symposing organizing committee. We've got representatives from Austin Health, Stephen Warlow, who's our intensive care director, Mark Howard, who is our director of Victorian Respiratory Support Service. We are collaborating with our fabulous colleagues over at the Royal Children's Hospital, Joe Harrison, Catherine Frayman, and then also the Global Tracheostomy Collaborative, Fincia Pandian, who's the president of the GTC, Michael Brennan, who's the chair of the GTC, amongst many others. We've certainly had a lot of interest and abstracts coming through from around the world, from the UK. We've had interest from Vietnam, from New Zealand, Belgium. It really extends far and wide, and it's wonderful to be able to collaborate all together. I think as you've touched on, we've spoken about in other sessions the networking and the social corridor conversations, and I think there's real power in that to be able to connect with individuals from around the world and share stories and experience. And as I mentioned before, there's no one site or one country that has it all you know on top of everything. It's certainly so much learning that can happen across the world, and it's such a niche area, really low volume in terms of patient numbers comparative to other areas of healthcare to be able to bring all of that together is incredibly powerful.

SPEAKER_00 11:29

Definitely. Okay, and there's a couple of dates we need to be aware of, so you better tell us when it is to start with.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

So, first of all, it is uh October 1st, 2026, so this year. Registrations and abstracts are open. Uh registrations will be open quite close to the time of the event. However, abstracts will close April 10th. So we've got a few more weeks to get those abstracts in, um but please do send them through. We're also encouraging our patients and families and carers to submit their story and their experience. We do want to hear from them as well. So the invitation extends to everyone.

SPEAKER_00 12:08

Fantastic. And where do people go to get registered, Pru?

SPEAKER_01 12:12

So uh we have www.its2026.com.au.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

Good stuff. And who do you think should be turning up to events like this? What what what sort of people are you trying to attract?

SPEAKER_01 12:25

This really is an it is an event that extends across lots of disciplines and areas who would work with tracheostomy. So if you're an intensivist, an inthetist, surgeon, physician, speech pathologist, physiotherapist, patients and families, industry partners, individuals working in the community, it really is a huge event that covers off all areas. Um there will be talks on long-term tracheostomy care, decannulation pathways, discharge planning, vent weaning, you name it.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

Oh, fantastic. Well, you've definitely sold me. Uh, unfortunately, that week it's uh my youngest daughter's 18th birthday, so I'm going to be very much in the UK. Uh is there going to be a live streaming option?

SPEAKER_01 13:09

We will uh hopefully have a hybrid event post. So there may be some recordings. We're actively working on that alongside the development of the program at the moment.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

All right, great. Well, that saves me get up in the middle of the night as well. And that's good stuff. Oh, well, Prue, look, it's been great talking to you and and uh good luck organizing all. I know uh from experience what a huge amount of work goes into uh organizing uh meetings like this, sort of behind the scenes. And it, you know, you you obviously got the passion for it, you've got the right people on your team to help deliver an event like this, and uh, you know, it's it's it's really exciting to to get around to number 10. It's uh it's quite incredible, really. So yeah, well done. Look forward to uh seeing and and hearing all about it, and uh we'll we'll keep in touch and we'll keep posting uh updates about uh what's going on with the 10th ITS uh down in Melbourne. So uh thank you, Prue.

SPEAKER_01 14:05

Thank you so much, Brendan. It's been wonderful to chat.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

All right, take care.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Take care, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

So that's it for this episode. Thanks to Prue for giving us those uh insights into what's happening at uh ITS 10 down in Melbourne. As ever, the views and opinions you've just heard are those of ourselves and not of the organisations for which we work. You can follow all of the information that we provide on these podcasts on our website and on our social media streams. And also don't forget to look out for the links to the International Tracheostomy Symposium in Melbourne in October later on this year. Thanks for listening and look forward to seeing you next time. Bye for now.