Clin Med
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Patients who remain unconscious and unaware after a brain insult challenge healthcare. Clinicians are faced with a clinical situation often outside their usual experience. ⋯ And people, especially family and friends, are faced with moral, legal and philosophical questions that have no easy answers. This conference launched national guidelines that should assist clinical teams and organisations, and should ensure that all patients and families receive a good quality service.
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This paper reports on a study that aimed to assess the inter-rater agreement of observable neurological signs in the upper and lower limbs (eg inspection, gait, cerebellar tests and coordination) and elicitable signs (eg tone, strength, reflexes and sensation). Thirty patients were examined by two neurology doctors, at least one of whom was a consultant. The doctors' findings were recorded on a standardised pro forma. ⋯ Almost perfect agreement was seen for cerebellar signs and inspection (a combination of speed of movement, muscle bulk, wasting and tremor); substantial agreement for strength, gait and coordination; moderate agreement for tone and reflexes; and only fair agreement for sensation. The inter-rater agreement is therefore better for observable neurological signs than for elicitable signs, which may be explained by the additional skill and cooperation required to elicit rather than just observe clinical signs. These findings have implications for clinical practice, particularly in telemedicine, and highlight the need for standardisation of the neurological examination.
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The health burden in most countries has changed. Although acute care is needed for trauma, acute illness and exacerbations of chronic disease, most of the burden is now long term. ⋯ The current hospital- and doctor-centric focus needs to change to one where specialists work in the community as much as in hospitals and share this different type of care with others. For potential future doctors, the scientific basis of medicine will still underpin their unique role in diagnosis and prescribing, but they will need to understand these other changes and to be selected according to attributes compatible with their future role, and then be trained and assessed accordingly.
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There is increasing recognition that type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) acquired in childhood and adolescence requires a sophisticated approach that facilitates better self-management through adherence to generic principles in managing chronic disease in this age group, allied to the complex clinical needs of managing T1DM and related conditions. Transitional care should be seen as a process over time supported by both paediatric and adult diabetologists within a multidisciplinary team, given the complementary skills that can be brought to bear. ⋯ Traditional clinical models will often not work for those in employment and higher education, with evidence that ongoing engagement following transfer to adult services often ceases. The alarming evidence of progressive complications in T1DM of longer duration in patients under the age of 40 years is a wake-up call to transform the care of this most vulnerable group.