Realistic Medicine Conference in Tayside May 2019

A conference was held on 17 May 2019 to explore the challenges and opportunities of the Scottish Government Chief Medical Officer’s ‘Realistic Medicine’ concept.

Realistic Medicine puts the person receiving healthcare at the centre of decisions about their care, and encourages health and care workers to find out what matters to the person so that their care matches their needs.

Clinical and care staff, academics, patient representatives and members of the public from across Tayside and beyond attended the event at the Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee.

NHS Tayside Chief Executive Grant Archibald and Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Realistic Medicine Lead Dr Shobhan Thakore welcomed attendees to the conference.  A number of speakers, including Deputy Chief Medical Officer for the Scottish Government Dr Gregor Smith, medical professionals and public and patient representatives then gave short presentations about the Realistic Medicine agenda and the different perspectives and work ongoing in Tayside.

Afternoon workshops explored themes of shared decision making in prescribing, managing the risk of complaint when practicing realistic medicine, effective engagement with patients, carers and the public, and supporting individuals as the end of life draws near.

Key speakers at the conference l-r Gregor Smith, Shobhan Thakore, Patient and Public Forum for Medicines representative Fran Benison, Lead Clinical Pharmacist Arlene Coulson, ENT Surgeon Rod Mountain, Specialty Trainee and Scottish Leadership Fellow Kate Arrow, Breast Buddies Co-ordinator Hannah Dalgety and Medical Student Sophie Corbett.