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I would like to give just three brief case-studies to demonstrate some aspects of the multidisciplinary seminars. You will see that I am left wondering whether the medical teams and the social and psychological services could not, to advantage, be working more closely together.
Mrs Felton, a well-dressed, 50-something-year-old woman, arrived in my office. ‘I've taken him to the ward …,’ she said. There was a distinct feeling of ‘I've had enough of him; he's yours now’. She then embarked on a tirade against her husband. She hoped the operation would be successful, as his constant blinking and facial twitching drove her mad. Her husband had never visited her when she was in hospital, and he had even insisted on having sex with her now, when she was still recovering from her operation.
Her husband, she told me, was virtually blind, due to blepharospasm (a compulsive, violent blinking), and was to be admitted for a major operation. She gave a picture of a devoted wife to a selfish, very dependent and incompetent husband—and she was furious about it.
I had to see Mr Felton to discuss a practical matter. To my astonishment, the first