Initial assessment of patients with putative functional disorders in medical settings, Tyrer et al, 2021

Andy

Andy

Retired committee member
CFS is used as an example of a functional disorder.
Patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of functional disorder are very frequent in practice. While it is always necessary to exclude treatable organic pathology, there are important clues in the presentation that can help the clinician. In particular, it is important to identify pathological health anxiety early in assessment, as failure to do so may lead to unnecessary investigations and the dangerous path of reinforcing reassurance. Because full assessment of functional symptoms takes time, it is suggested that a clinical support nurse with some training in psychological management should be available to guide the management of the patients with these disorders. Such support nurses, based in the clinic, offer a seamless way of providing care that is not achieved by external referral to psychologists or equivalent staff.
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Open access, https://www.rcpjournals.org/content/clinmedicine/21/1/8
 
Interesting that having clinical support nurse on the specialist team and them providing any psychological support needed, is recommended here rather than referral to IAPT.
That fits with our recommendation to NICE, but for different reasons. The emphasis here seems to be that all so called functional disorders (including CFS) should be managed with psychological therapies, even if they are suggesting a different route.
 
if actual medical doctors do not wake up there will no longer be any jobs for them . what would be the point of any sick people going to their gp if the only thing allowed is some air brained idiot spouting nonsense as a form of treatment .the patients would be better of consulting with ancient soothsayers at least the cost to the public purse would be nil .
 
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