Gynaecology: HICO |
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Geriatric Support
Other medical issues - Geriatric support
What do we do?
Geriatricians are doctors who specialise in the healthcare needs of older people. There's no right or wrong age to see a geriatrician.
We can be helpful if you:
- Have multiple medical conditions
- Are on multiple medications (especially if these are causing side effects)
- Are experiencing issues doing activities such as walking, washing or dressing
- Have a condition associated with getting older - eg. dementia/memory issues, falls, incontinence or Parkinson's Disease
The Geriatricians working for the HICO service all have a specialist interest in older people undergoing surgery/ cancer in older people. They are:
Bristol Royal Infirmary
Dr Frances Rickard
Dr Miriam Thake
Royal United Hospital
Dr Natalie Gaskell
Dr Frances Parry
Why can we help you?
Geriatricians specialise in managing complex medical problems and frailty. Frailty is a condition associated with ageing whereby multiple systems in the body start to lose their in-built reserves, leaving a person vulnerable to the effects of additional stresses, such as undergoing surgery.
People who have certain medical conditions, multiple medical conditions or frailty may be at a higher risk of developing complications following surgery or developing side effects from chemotherapy drugs.
Our role is to help you understand how any additional underlying medical conditions may influence your response to treatment; ensure you are fully informed as to how these conditions may increase your risk of complications following surgery; and ensure a tailored plan is put in place to try and reduce these risks where possible.
How can we help you?
When you meet us in clinic we will go through a number of things with you. This will usually include details of your medical conditions, a run through of any symptoms you have, your medications, your home situation, and any other relevant information. We may do a brief memory test and will examine your heart, lungs and any other relevant systems.
We use information from your medical records and test results, from asking you questions about your health, examining you and utilising information from other HICO teams you have seen such as the physiotherapists. We put all of this information together to build a picture of your overall health and from this we generate a management plan that is tailored to you.
We look at how different aspects of your health and response to treatment interlink and how they might impact on you as you continue to undergo cancer treatment. We then work to make your symptoms and conditions better where we can. We will also have open and honest conversations about the things we think we can't ‘get better' and help you to plan for this.
We work closely with the other HICO intervention teams and your Oncology and Surgical teams and will share information of our assessments with them as well as with you and your GP. We very much encourage family members to come with you to the clinic.
Useful information
-
The Book About Getting Older by Dr Lucy Pollock
(Not an advert or endorsement, just a heartfelt recommendation!)
- Age UK: Age UK website
Contact us
Dr Rickard and Dr Thake can be contacted via the BRI Care of the Elderly Department Secretaries on 0117 3421313
Dr Gaskell and Dr Parry can be contacted via the RUH Older Persons Unit Department Secretaries on 01225 821267