Brit J Hosp Med
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Although nitrous oxide is widely used for analgesia and anxiolysis, its use is under scrutiny because of concerns about its environmental impact and potential implications for mental health. This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of this agent.
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Enhanced supportive care is a care model providing earlier access to multiprofessional, coordinated care for patients from the point of cancer diagnosis. As a proactive model of care, it stands as a contrast to providing access to a multidisciplinary team once a patient has hit a crisis point, or when their prognosis has become sufficiently poor that they are able to access traditional end-of-life services. Its arrival in the UK through palliative care teams working in cancer care has led to enhanced supportive care being synonymous with early palliative care. ⋯ Enhanced supportive care services have a key role in modern cancer care in maintaining and improving patients' quality of life alongside cancer treatment and ensuring that patients' priorities and preferences for treatment are considered. Furthermore, enhanced supportive care has been shown to support the wider healthcare system by creating capacity within the NHS, reducing demand on hospital services and saving money. As enhanced supportive care services continue to grow and venture into the care and support of cancer survivors and those receiving potentially curative treatments, ongoing work is needed to determine how these services can be made available throughout the NHS and how a shared vision of the way enhanced supportive care operates can be realised.