Results from a UK consensus about the optimal prescribing of medium strength triple therapy in uncontrolled adult asthma patients in the NHS.

Context: An inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) in combination with a long-acting β2-agonist (LABA) is a common treatment approach for asthma patients not controlled on ICS alone, but a significant proportion of patients remain uncontrolled on this combination and treatment adherence can also be a challenge. One of the options for adults whose asthma is uncontrolled in an ICS/LABA is the addition of a long-acting muscarinic receptor antagonist (LAMA), an approach commonly referred to as 'triple therapy'. The use of medium-strength ICS/LABA/LAMA is established in treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease but is less well-established in asthma.

Lessons learned from the experiences of patients with long-term conditions: recommendations for enhancing the undergraduate medical curriculum.

The importance of involving patients in medical education is widely accepted, but their contribution to medical curriculum design is not well documented. Patients have the potential to bring a unique perspective and more refined experience to curriculum development. This applies particularly to those with long-term conditions (LTCs) who have multiple exposures to doctors throughout their healthcare journey.

Unknown unknowns: can bringing patients' lived experience of long term conditions into curriculum design help our future doctors offer more holistic, socially accountable care?

Understanding the holistic impact of long-term conditions (LTCs) on a patient, due to their high prevalence, morbidity, mortality and cost, is an important part of the primary care undergraduate medicine curriculum. Increasingly, we set learning outcomes for our students anticipating what the patient would want them to know. But are our expectations congruent with what patients would want them to know? In this leading article, we propose that patient involvement in curriculum design remains inadequate.

Outpatient continuous interscalene brachial plexus block in cancer-related pain.

This case outlines the use of a continuous interscalene brachial plexus block to treat cancer-related pain. Using an elastomeric device, the patient's previously intractable pain was controlled and he was able to return home. Furthermore, the patient developed a pragmatic and effective method of balancing loss of power and sensation against pain control using the flow restrictor.