Complex needs in complex systems
I am a well-controlled type 1 diabetic, but there are certain situations where even well-controlled diabetics can find themselves in tricky situations. One of these is during pregnancy and the period afterwards. Changing insulin requirements and pressures to keep low blood sugars during pregnancy and breastfeeding can dramatically increase the risk of hypoglycaemia. Continue reading “Safer systems in the home: How a plug and a box changed my life”
When training clinicians about IRIS (the General Practice domestic abuse service) they would sometimes tell me that they had made many referrals into the IRIS service that year. Occasionally this would happen at a practice from which I had received no referrals at all.
Intrigued by this discrepancy I would ask more questions. It transpired that the clinicians thought that they were referring into the service (IRIS) but in fact, what they were actually doing was signposting to the service. This ‘difference’ made all the difference, and the intended recipient was usually lost in the process. Continue reading “Engaging potentially vulnerable client groups. Referrals and signposting. What’s the difference?”