ABOUT
In April 2024, Dr Rebecca Foljambe, an NHS GP and passionate campaigner for safer smartphone use in children, started a group to establish whether other health professionals felt as strongly about this issue.
The response was immediate, with consultant paediatricians, speech and language therapists, child psychologists, psychotherapists and psychiatrists, public health consultants, social workers, dieticians, and GPs all sharing observations and concerns from their clinical practice regarding the impacts of children’s addictive screen use and access to harmful content online. Health Professionals for Safer Screens was born.
OUR AIMS & MISSION
This group’s ambition is to present the need for adopting the precautionary principle and help our colleagues understand that smartphones and screens are negative social and health determinants. We will do this by:
Educating the professional world about the risks of screens through evidenced-based briefings, resources and engagement with the Royal Colleges and the Chief Medical Officers.
Support the public with a public health campaign. We will create resources that our health professionals can use to educate them. Use media opportunities to raise awareness.
Support campaigns (as individuals and a group) which encourage safer screens
our members
Since our formation in April 2024, new health professionals have been joining our campaign: consultant paediatricians, speech and language therapists, child psychologists, psychotherapists and psychiatrists, public health consultants, social workers, dieticians, and GPs, all sharing observations and concerns regarding the impacts of children’s addictive screen use and access to harmful content online. Join Us!
Dr Peter Cartledge
Consultant Community Paediatrician and the Senior Lecturer at Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS), Canterbury, UK
Dr Yasmin Pasha
FRCP PhD
Consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist
Special interest: Gut Brain Axis and Brain Function
Michael Eiden
LCSW, LCADC, CSAT, CCS EMDR Trained, Board Certified Sex Therapist
Louisville, KY
Eiden Integrative Counseling
Dr Grace Hancock
Clinical Psychologist DPsych(clin), MAPS, FCCLP. Child & adolescent mental health including neurodiversity.
Dr. Emily Sehmer
Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, MBChB, BSc Hons, MRCPsych, PG Cert in Medical Leadership
Dr Sara Khan
Former GP, MBBS, BSc (Hons), MRCGP, DRCOG, DFSRH. Currently working within Oncology, at MSD (Pharmaceutical Company).
Dr Federico Campos MD MSc
Deputy Medical Director The Giaroli Centre / Child, Adolescent & Adult Psychiatrist
Dr Peter Cosgrove
MBBChBAO, FAAP, MRCPI Consultant in Paediatric Emergency Medicine, Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children Honorary Lecturer, Queen’s University Belfast
Prof. Matthew Sadlier
MB; MSc; MRCPI; MICGP; MRCPsych; FFSEM, Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin. Former president of Irish Medical Organisation.
Dr Helen Thomas
MBBS DRCOG MRCEM MRCGP
Georgina Anderson
Dip Humanistic Therapist for Adults and Children
Dr Alex Fergusson-Wood
NHS GP MBBS DRCOG
Dr Charlotte Armitage
Psychologist & Psychotherapist, Founder of “No Phones at Home” and “Be Device Wise” BSc (Hons) PG Cert GMBPsS CSci PPABP FRSA MBACP Psy.D
Dr Shamila Wanninayake
GP with Special Interest in Child Health Weights BSc MBBS MRCGP PgDiP DCH DFSRH LOC(IUD)
Dr Sanjiv Nichani
Senior Consultant Paediatrician, Leicester Children’s Hospital, Founder “Healing Little Hearts Global Foundation” OBE MRCP Paediatrics
Dr Rebecca Foljambe
MBBS BSc DRCOG DFSRH MRCGP
OUR PARTNERS
