Jessica Pales
Dedicated Paediatric Specialty Doctor skilled in managing children and young people with eating disorders and acute paediatric care. Facilitates multidisciplinary collaboration and maintains clear communication with families and healthcare professionals. Coordinates outpatient clinics and ward rounds, oversees triage and escalation of care, and contributes to clinical teaching and pathway development.
Skills
Education
MBBS
Certificate of Medical Education
MRCPCH (209535)
Work history
Paediatric Speciality Doctor
10 Years 6 MonthsPaediatric Eating Disorder Service
Senior clinical role providing medical leadership within a specialist paediatric eating disorder service. Responsibilities include acute physical management of patients, weekly outpatient clinics, twice-weekly ward rounds, multidisciplinary team (MDT) leadership, referral triage, safeguarding, and collaboration with CAMHS and allied health professionals. Participated in service development, quality improvement initiatives, guideline development, and teaching of paediatric, GP, and foundation trainees. Provided senior medical cover for the North Devon Eating Disorder Service (Sept-Dec 2025), supporting clinics, MDTs, safeguarding reviews, and inpatient care during consultant absence.
Paediatric Assessment Unit
Weekly senior clinical cover for the assessment and management of acutely unwell children, supporting junior doctors, coordinating admissions and transfers, undertaking procedures, and working closely with multidisciplinary teams to ensure safe patient care.
Led service development initiatives and quality improvement projects in paediatric care. Extensive involvement in quality improvement, pathway development, audit, and clinical guideline updates. Delivered regular teaching locally and regionally, and served as a Professional Development Tutor at the University of Exeter Medical School (2017-2026). Experienced in recognising, escalating, and managing safeguarding concerns, with active participation in peer review and multi-agency discussions.
Courses
Sept 2026 Safeguarding Children - Level 3 training
Mar 2025 CYP Autism and Eating disorders training
Nov 2024 APLS
Dec 2022 Managing Emergencies in Eating Disorders (MEED) Training
Leadership & Management
I become increasingly confident and experienced in providing clinical leadership and oversight in acute, out-patient and in-patient settings. I provide senior clinical overview both on PAU and in my role for the eating disorder service. I regularly facilitate MDT-led care, support inpatient teams caring for young people with eating disorders on the ward, facilitate complex case discussions, and contributed to service planning, business case development, and the review of standard operating procedures.
Consultant cover (Sept -Dec 2025) North Devon Eating disorder service and following on from that, I have continued to offer advice and guidance.
Service Development & Quality improvement projects
Key achievements include leading the revision of local guidelines for the management of children and young people with eating disorders on Bramble Ward, contributing to the development of a new service activity database, and supporting the design and implementation of a new outpatient pathway. I also developed a series of clinical documentation "smart phrases" that incorporate national MEED guidance , helping to standardise clinical practice and improve the quality and efficiency of patient care. More recently, I completed a review of nasogastric tube use and documentation within the service and there are plans to audit the newly implemented outpatient pathway following its introduction.
Teaching
Education and training have been a central part of my professional role. I have regularly delivered induction teaching and specialist educational sessions on mental health and eating disorders, supporting the development of medical students, resident doctors, and multidisciplinary colleagues. From 2017 - 2026, I served as a Professional Development Tutor for the University of Exeter Medical School, mentoring third-year medical students and supporting their professional growth.
References
Dr Christopher Moudiotis
Consultant Paediatrician
Royal Devon University Hospital (East)
christopher.moudiotis@nhs.net