Description

I have recently returned from another BGS training session in Taiwan, where for about 7 years now we have been helping the Veterans Hospitals develop expertise in geriatric medicine. A particular highlight of this trip was to give a guest lecture to the Taiwanese Orthopaedic Association on delirium and over dinner have an orthopaedic surgeon recognise delirium developing in one of his colleagues! I was also struck by how calm the wards that I visited were and this led me to wonder if the relative or paid carer who stays with the patient resulted in a lower incidence of delirium developing on the wards and possible faster resolution of prevalent delirium. I can not imagine we will ever achieve family based ‘specialling’ on our wards in the UK but perhaps we should adopt more flexible visiting and encourage families to be available at meal times to assit with nutritional and hydration needs (the basics of delirium management and prevention).

In recent times I have heard much chattering that the dementia CQUIN is too demanding and set too high. Some have even suggested that this will lead to some Trusts not trying to meet the CQUIN. We must ensure that the momentum is not lost and that our hospitals become dementia friendly and provide appropriate levels of care for dementia sufferers and their families – we can only do this if we know who they are, so screening for dementia is not an option it is essential!

I am glad to say that submissions to the journal are on the increase again as demonstrated by this volume of the journal returning to its usual level of content. My editorial team and I can not afford to be complacent and we hope that you will continue to make the effort to share your expertise with your BGS colleagues by writing for the CME Journal. REMEMBER – this is your CME journal and we need you to contribute if it is to survive. As always, I welcome feed-back from you as to whether the journal is helping you to fulfil your CME needs and with any suggestions for improvements.

Duncan R Forsyth
Editor