Highly successful educational event in Scotland with Fifth Sense members and clinicians

Fifth Sense members and clinical staff at the Ninewells Hospital information day

Clinicians from Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, came together with Fifth Sense members and volunteers on 1st July to hold a very successful information day which proved to be a rich educational experience for all involved.

The clinical team, led by Consultant ENT Surgeon Mr Paul White, worked together with Fifth Sense volunteer Julie Morrison to organise the event.  Twelve Fifth Sense members attended, and following a short presentation by Julie about the charity, the bulk of the morning was given to members relating their own accounts of living with a smell/taste disorder, their experiences of the NHS, and discussion around how the patient journey could potentially be improved.

The afternoon involved presentations from Mr Rohit Gohil, Mr Richard Green and Mr White, around the anatomy of smell and taste, clinical consultations and investigations, and new developments in olfaction.

Feedback from the Fifth Sense members who attended has been very positive; everyone found the day useful and informative, whilst the NHS staff also found the experience extremely useful in developing a better understanding of the challenges faced by patients, and are keen to ensure that what they have learned will inform future practice and training.

We’d like to say a huge thanks to all those involved, particularly to Julie Morrison for all her hard work and to Mr White and Mr Green for initiating and organising the information day.  We hope that the success of this event will lead to similar collaborations with other ENT clinicians.