Department of Health (2013)
The NHS
Outcomes Framework 2014/15
. DH,
London. Available online at: www.
gov.uk/government/uploads/system/
uploads/attachment_data/file/256456/
NHS_outcomes.pdf
National Institute for Health and Care
Excellence (2013)
Atopic Eczema in
Children
. NICE, London. Available
online at: www.nice.org.uk/guidance/
QS44/chapter/List-of-quality-
statements (accessed 12 February, 2015)
Schofield J, Grindlay D, Williams H
(2010)
Skin conditions in the UK: a
health care needs assessment
. Centre
of Evidence-based Dermatology,
University of Nottingham. Available
online at: www.nottingham.ac.uk/
research/groups/cebd/documents/
hcnaskinconditionsuk2009.pdf
Over the past few years, the All Party
Parliamentary Group on Skin (APPGS)
has produced numerous reports looking
at the needs of patients in various
dermatological settings nationally. The
areas investigated include the training of
GPs and other healthcare professionals
in managing patients with skin conditions, interventions for
patients with skin cancer and the use of sunbeds, to name three.
Each report makes recommendations to improve the given
situation. For me, the difficulty appears to be how to inspire
generalists to recognise the areas that specialists see as
important in terms of skin-related issues. How do specialists
help generalists without making them feel like they need to be
specialists? Maybe, as dermatology practitioners, my colleagues
and myself need to think about how better to inform and support
other clinicians in what they need to know. Instead of simply
imparting information, which is tempting, is there a place for
asking first which areas of skin-related care do they feel they
would like improving? Maybe if learners identify gaps in their
knowledge, there will be a better sustained interest in learning
more about other skin care issues?
Only then will there be a turnaround in the way that the
fundamental need for maintaining skin integrity — in whatever
setting — is seen and dealt with.
Sara Burr,
community dermatology nurse specialist, Community Nursing
and Therapy, Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust
others (highly specialised)
are commissioned nationally
by NHS England.
There is no doubt that there
is good work going on out there.
The National Institute for Health
Research (NIHR) funds research,
e.g. £2 million to Salford Royal NHS
Foundation Trust for the IMPACT
[Identification and Management of
Psoriasis Associated ComorbidiTy]
research programme; there are
new National Institute for Health
and Care Excellence (NICE, 2013)
guidelines, such as that on atopic
eczema in children (see
pp. 58–65
);
teledermatology is emerging in some
remote regions; and information
continues to be provided by
dermatology patient support groups.
While such work is invaluable
and to be welcomed, commitment
and education are needed from
government, so that healthcare
professionals are not only able to
treat, but also manage and advise
patients on how to self-care and cope
with skin conditions that may last
a lifetime.
The extent and debilitating
nature of conditions like eczema
and psoriasis need to be understood,
with the necessary resources and
funding being put in place to provide
dermatological care closer to home,
with nurse-led services that meet
patient needs.
At the moment, there is a danger
that unless a local commissioner or a
member of his/her family has a skin
condition, provision for what is a
largely unrecognised area of medicine
might slip off the radar. The skin may
be the largest organ of the body, but
dermatology is still receiving too
little attention...
REFERENCES
All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin
(2012)
Commissioning services for people
with skin disease
. Available online
at: www.appgs.co.uk/publication/
view/-commisioning-services-for-
skin-conditions-2008/ (last accessed 17
March, 2015)
All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin
(2015)
APPGS 2015 brochure
. Available
online at: www.appgs.co.uk/wp-
content/uploads/2015/01/APPGS-2015-
Brochure-small-size.pdf (last accessed
17 March, 2015)
Department of Health (2006)
Our health,
our care, our say: a new direction for
community services
. DH, London.
Available online at: www.gov.uk/
government/uploads/system/
uploads/attachment_data
file/272238/6737.pdf (last accessed 18
March, 2015)
Department of Health (2008)
Delivering
care closer to home: meeting the challenge
.
DH, London
Department of Health (2008)
High quality
care for all: NHS Next Stage Review final
report
. DH, London
SCT
SKIN CARE TODAY
2015,Vol 1, No 1
7
SKIN CARE MATTERS
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