Is this patient ready for discharge? This question must be asked endlessly by care staff, managers, and sometimes the patient themselves. In this blog post, I will argue that it is the wrong question and that, by asking the wrong question without thought, we are failing to provide the best care to our patients. Moreover, …
Trust is central to all healthcare. A patient trusts the doctor’s diagnosis and recommendations. The doctor relies on a radiologist to read the image correctly. When the doctor refers a patient to a therapist, she trusts the therapist to assess for and provide appropriate intervention. The therapist, in return, relies on the doctor’s medical diagnosis …
Rehabilitation usually promotes itself as holistic, considering the patient as a whole and being patient-centred. Using the biopsychosocial model should indeed enforce a holistic, patient-centred approach. (here) Nevertheless, there are counter-forces at play, forces that we sometimes encourage. The primary countervailing power is a desire to categorise, classify, and develop small specialise treatment programmes. For …
Teams use many different words to describe themselves. A group recently asked me to help them decide whether they are a multidisciplinary or an interdisciplinary team. The background information provided perfectly illustrated the difficulty in defining the team, as illustrated in this figure. (here) The question prompted me to write this blog post to show …
Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary, or Transdisciplinary? Read More »
This blog post updates the BSRM debate on its name and whether we should change it. After two somewhat confrontational discussions, Jav Haider (consultant in the Major Trauma Centre, Cardiff) agreed to discuss the issues rather than debate them. It was an exciting and productive discussion, and this blog post records the main points. John …
Clinical Rehabilitation, the journal I have edited from 1994 to 2021, rejects about 88% of all submissions. Rejections fall into two groups. Many papers are not worth publishing or are entirely outside the scope of a rehabilitation journal. For the remainder, it is a question of relative priority. Some articles are better than others, and …
Rehabilitation is not therapy, and therapy is not rehabilitation. Rehabilitation expertise is the second area of expertise acquired by some people working within healthcare. Unfortunately, there is no mechanism to demonstrate that you have specific expertise in rehabilitation unless you happen to be a doctor. In the UK, since 1997, doctors have been able to …
Contrary to the header above, this post is not written by Derick Wade. It has been written by a brave speech and language therapist, Harriet Peel. I (Derick Wade, writing this introduction) am really pleased to have a second post in this category, and I hope that Harriet’s post inspires you to write and answer …
This post contains material that advocates changing the name of the British Society of Rehabilitation to the British Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine. I (Derick Wade) have asked three leading advocates for changing the name to write a post for this website, with no conditions attached. All refused the invitation. Nevertheless, I am keen …
The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) is a well-designed, helpful piece of legislation that governs decision-making for people who lack the mental ability to make decisions (in England and Wales). Unfortunately, it has been blown off course by well-meaning but clinically inappropriate guidance, rendering it unused and unusable. The principles of the Act are straightforward – …
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