Drained

Compassion fatigue. Burnout. Exhaustion. Call it what you will, many, if not most of us, will at some point – probably many points – crunch into a spell where putting in 110% has left you with nothing but a rattling can. And perhaps a desire for chocolate, gin or trash TV. […]

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Keys to success

The challenges of looking after children with complex medical conditions have been widely acknowledged, and a model frequently proposed to address this is of a ‘key worker’ – an identified health care professional who is a point of first contact, organiser and font of locally applicable knowledge to improve care and reduce distress. In the […]

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Gender sensitive medicine

Last year the worldwide Movember charitable organisation, in addition to having a LOT to answer for when it came to ridiculous photographs on social media and scratchy snogging, held a symposium on Boys’/Mens’ Mental Health. Crashing into this again recently made me sit up and ask “Do we paediatrician types alter our consultations / clinics […]

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Guest Blog: The trials and tribulations of answering clinical questions

 For a recent evidence based paediatrics assignment we had to answer and present a clinical question. I’m sure you are well acquainted with the process; construct your question in standard PICO format, search your secondary and primary sources, critically appraise the evidence and draw your conclusions. Having noted a trend towards starting lamotrigine rather than […]

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Making decisions to limit treatment in life-limiting and life-threatening conditions in children

The revised Royal College of Paediatric and Child Health guidance on making decisions to limit treatment in life-limiting and life-threatening conditions in childhood has just been published. It provides an ethical and legal framework for practicing clinicians revised to reflect the changes in the scope and availability of advanced technology and in the emphasis and […]

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