What’s in a word? Patients, clients, service users…
“There seems to be a view out there in mental health that “service user” and “client” are good and “patient” is bad. I don’t buy it.” Phil Dore looks at the meaning of language used to describe people who use mental health services.
Frontline Friday 9th August 2013: Our favourite frontline blogs this week
Here’s our list of ten frontline blogs we’ve particularly liked from the week of 5th August 2013, from unemployment to zero hours contracts, property taxes to policing protests.
What do you call a person who receives mental health services?
There are people who have had bad experiences of mental health services – you only have to look in the comments sections of my posts on this blog to find people who have nothing good to say about mental health services - who would answer “victim”. (I just thought I’d get that in first). But this […]
Painting the picture…
Earlier this week I tweeted about the wisdom of my first ever boss. Dr Kemp was a fantastic, old-school doctor and I couldn’t have wished for a more supportive or inspiring Consultant in my first FY1 job. I’m sure he is a major reason why I pursued a career as a Physician. At the end […]
Shadow politics: The NHS is more than a logo
Perhaps the most blatant example of the shadow politics is what the political class has doing to the NHS over the past 30 years. To most people, the NHS is more than a logo - but for how much longer?
Service users? I couldn’t eat a whole one
The organiser of the Patient Service User Forum licked her lips when she saw me. A Service User! Me. She had captured one, a strange and precious creature for her consultation exercise. What will it say?! Will it kick off? Will it have a hot drink? Or would it prefer something cooler? Will it jump […]
Loneliness
“The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for and deserted by everybody” Mother Theresa I am always early for my doctors appointment. I cannot imagine how anyone could be late for a doctors appointment, even though I know that lots of doctors, including mine, often […]
Can you teach care?
During a debate in London this week with health colleagues we were updated on the initial responses to the report into Mid Staffordshire by Robert Francis Q.C. which was published in early February 2013. The long awaited report is hyper-critical and leaves no stone unturned in an attempt to uncover the reasons why over a […]
When do you stop extending a Community Treatment Order?
Patients subject to CTOs at 31 March 2012, by gender and by year Community Treatment Orders were introduced into the MHA 1983 by the 2007 amendments. The Code of Practice (25.2) states that: “The purpose of SCT is to allow suitable patients to be safely treated in the community rather than under detention […]
Choice - real or imagined
I have just read a really interesting blogpost by a GP I admire a great deal: Dr Martin Brunet. He tweets as @DocMartin68. I’m not sure who the other 67 Doc Martins are but I like this touch of humour and Martin’s ‘down to earth’ approach to many of the pithy issues that are facing the […]
Let’s start an evolution
For anyone to call themselves an expert is either a bold move or naive. Expert is not really a tag to which many can often justifiably attach themselves, rather it’s one that others attribute to them. This week, however, I attended an event and met someone who I would have no issue if they labelled themselves an […]
Frontline Friday round-up 8th February 2013
Here’s our round-up of frontline blogs we’ve particularly liked from the week of 3rd February 2013. This week we focus exclusively on the Mid Staffordshire scandal and the reactions to the Francis report - many of which question the reforms which the NHS has been subjected to under successive governments.
Communication at the end of life
“I call it ‘the grim reaper talk’. By this slightly tongue in cheek phrase I refer to the vital timely episode of communication I have with a patient’s family when we as the multidisciplinary team feel someone has entered the final stages of their life in terms of hours or days.” Dr Kate Granger reflects on the difficulty of sensitive communication in today’s NHS.
Attachment
Sometimes knowing when to stop is one of the hardest things in medicine. I find looking after a patient list so hard because I have lots of sick patients who sometimes die. It’s difficult to know how far to go before you hold your hands up and admit defeat. The debate at the moment with […]