Share review of Mrs Laura King

Mrs Laura King 2022-05-19 Person 5 5 0

I am a PCN pharmacist working in general practice, with responsibility for care of children and adults with asthma. Laura kindly agreed to let me shadow her in clinic. It was such a useful time for me...joined up a lot of the dots from primary care regarding referrals, particularly the pathway for spirometry. Also, I will counsel patients differently from now on, because whilst I always offer children over 6 both chamber and mouthpiece options for spacer, I have tended to steer them towards using the masks. Now I will train to the mouthpiece as default. There are 48+ spacer devices available but having seen the device Laura was using, I realise it has a much easier round mouthpiece than the devices I have been recommending, which improves the seal that patients young and old can get, thereby potentially improving lung deposition. I will also redouble my focus on controlling hay fever, I was so impressed at how Laura covered all triggers; I am pretty comprehensive but time pressures in primary care often limit the degree of breadth that I can cover. Laura had up to date knowledge of the process of branded and generic hay fever treatment products, which she passed on to patients, to help them choose the most cost effective treatment. It was great to see the MDT in action, when a family had a concern about a 10y old girls chest and she was able to bring a consultant-colleague in to review it straight away- I'm sure that will prevent the family from worrying unnecessarily, especially as the child grows into teenage. I appreciated the supportive warm care and patient-led approach to consultation which allowed for so much salient background information to be elicited regarding the patient and family's daily life and experience. It was a privilege to learn from such a kind, compassionate and expert clinician.