The Geriatrics “Profanisaurus.” Words and phrases we should ban?

David Oliver is a Consultant Geriatrician in Berkshire and a visiting Professor in Medicine of Older People at City University, London. He is President Elect of the British Geriatrics Society. 

During the BGS Spring Meeting in Belfast, Prof Des O’Neill – probably the most cultured and literate geriatrician in our midst, asked many delegates, notebook in hand,  for tips on enlightening books to further his thirst for broad knowledge. Earnest as ever, I suggested George Haidt’s “The Righteous Mind” and Ha-Joon Chang’s “23 Things They Don’t Tell You about Capitalism!”. Our then Hon. Sec., the redoubtable Dr Zoe Wyrko, mischievously and persistently tried to persuade Desmond that the book he really needed was “Roger Melly’s Profanisaurus” from Newcastle’s Booker-winning publishing house, Viz magazine. I did have a wry smile at the idea of the Amazon package being eagerly opened in Dublin the following week –contents taking pride of place in vertiginous O’Neill bookshelves. I also got to thinking, “sod Roger” – what about “Dave’s Profanisaurus of Geriatric Medicine?”. 

Unlocking gridlock in hospitals

Published in the June issue of the BGS Newsletter, we look at some startling results achieved through a couple of simple mechanisms as reported in to reports published by The Health Foundation.

The reports showcase programmes piloted in Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust

The Flow Cost Quality improvement programme was set up to explore the relationship between patient flow, costs and outcomes by examining patient flow through the emergency care pathway and developing ways in which capacity can be better matched to demand.