Volume 7, Number 4

Tom Poyner FRCP(Lond and Glasg) MRCGP DPD Principal in General Practice and Hospital Practitioner in Dermatology; Pauline Steinmetz RGN, Dip H.Ed Practice Nurse, Queen’s Park Medical Centre; Gail Sibley RGN BSc(Hons) Practice Nurse, Queen’s Park Medical Centre; Graham Wynn DMS Practice Manager, Queen’s Park Medical Centre, Stockton-on-Tees

Queen’s Park Medical Centre is a large, urban practice with 23,000 patients and more than ten partners. The practice wanted to assess current management of eczema and then try to improve the care of patients with eczema using guidelines and consultations with a practice nurse. The practice also intended to measure patients’ satisfaction with the service pre- and post-consultation with the nurse.

Julie Bowman, Editor

You know when it’s autumn, and it’s not just the leaves. Teachers return fresh from their established migratory route around southern Europe. Throughout the land, pupils prepare for another gruelling academic year, mobbing stationers, fighting for the lack of file paper and DayGlo® highlighters – and that’s just the adults.

Reverend Stephen Wright FRCN MBE Associate Professor, Faculty of Health, St Martin’s College, Lancaster and Chairman of the Sacred Space Foundation

A dozen of us gathered and the only non-nurse present was a friend of mine who had been in hospital a few years ago. He came out with one of the most profound insights about nurses (and other carers, come to that) that I have heard from any lay person.

Jennie Sutton RGN BSc(Hons) Professional Practice in Healthcare Freelance Facilitator. North Cumbria

Patient and public involvement sits firmly within clinical governance. It is endorsed by a number of government white papers. A First Class Service states that, ‘Public partnership can act as a lever to quality improvement’.1 The NHS Plan further commits to patients being empowered through information and decision-making.2

Rino Cerio BSc (Hons) FRCP (Lond and Edin) FRCPath Consultant Dermatologist, Royal London Hospital

This is the second part of a two-part feature (part one having appeared in the autumn issue of the British Journal of Dermatology Nursing), in which we are aiming to put the spotlight on some of the evolving areas in the management of psoriasis, with particular focus on the role of the dermatology nurse.

Bijoya Roychowdhury MBBS DGO MRCP Consultant Rheumatologist, Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) affects from 5% to 7% of patients with psoriasis.1 Many patients with mild disease respond well to treatment with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and physical therapy (for example, physiotherapy and regular exercises). In cases of more persistent joint inflammation, however, PsA, like rheumatoid arthritis, can result in joint damage, disability and increased mortality.2,3

Mary J Brydon OBE FRCN RGN OHNC Allergy Nurse Consultant, Norfolk Allergy Diagnostic and Advisory Service, Norwich

Allergy is extremely common; it will affect approximately one in four of the population in the UK at some time in their life. The numbers of those who suffer from allergy are increasing by 5% each year, with as many as half of all sufferers being children. The most concerning of these statistics is that one in 70 children now suffer from peanut allergy compared with one in 200 ten years ago.1

Chris Packham, EnviroDerm Services, Evesham, Worcestershire

While most skin disease will be constitutional in nature, there is little doubt that a significant number of people will suffer from damage to health as a result of conditions in the workplace. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing how many, or to what extent, people in the UK are affected, as statistics are not available. Even in countries with much better reporting procedures than ours, it is a fact that much occupational skin disease goes unreported.