British Geriatrics Society

Despite Prof. Bernard Isaacs (a fellow Scot) naming incontinence as one of the geriatric giants in the 1960s (along with immobility, instability, and impaired intellect/memory), it was still a topic that, decades later, was not taught (at least not well enough to recollect) during my undergraduate days. Speaking to care of the elderly registrars, this is largely unchanged. It wasn’t until I started working as a registrar for (the fantastic) Vikky Morris at Musgrove Park Hospital that I gained insight to issues that those with continence problems face. Having Vikky as an enthusiastic teacher really helped pique my interest in bowel and bladder health.

I knocked on the door. From behind the entrance Alan appeared weary and yet relieved to see a familiar face. I sat down with him and revisited our meeting a week prior when he came to see me complaining of widespread joint pain and weight loss for which no cause had been identified by the hospital specialists. He was known to have Rheumatoid Arthritis amongst multiple other conditions and was attending to discuss what could be the cause as he was now becoming frail, tired and perplexed at why he wasn’t improving.

One of the key challenges of being a geriatrician is to be able to gain a sense of the wider perspective of ageing. Although geriatricians and gerontological nurses are the gerontologists who have the most day-to-day contact with older people, this is often with those who are frail and living with multimorbidity.