Health professionals' knowledge of driving restrictions following stroke and TIA: experience from a hyperacute stroke centre.

Background And Purpose: Assessment of fitness to drive (FTD) is important after stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) to ensure that neither patients nor public are at risk. This is particularly important in patients with TIAs or minor stroke as many are discharged directly from emergency departments by a range of health professionals. We assessed stroke-related FTD knowledge among physicians' and allied health professionals' (AHPs) treating patients with stroke at a hyperacute stroke centre.

Development of a core drug list towards improving prescribing education and reducing errors in the UK.

Aim: To develop a core list of 100 commonly prescribed drugs to support prescribing education.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of prescribing data from primary care in England (2006 and 2008) and from two London Teaching Hospitals (2007 and 2009) was performed. A survey of prescribing by foundation year 1 (FY1) doctors in 39 NHS Trusts across London was carried out.

Mind the gap: Learners' perspectives on what they learn in communication compared to how they and others behave in the real world.

Objective: To explore the lack of the learners' voice at previous international conferences on communication in healthcare.

Methods: A group of medical students and recently qualified junior doctors were invited to give the learner's perspective on how communication skills are taught and how they are implemented in 'real life', at a 90min symposium at the EACH International Conference on Communication in Healthcare, 4th September 2008, Oslo.

Results: We attempt to bridge the gap between learning communication skills formally in the medical classroom and actually implementing these in the real world between doctors and patients from a learners' perspective.