The online clinic on skin conditions gave people the chance to get their personal health questions answered by doctors and nurses who are specialists in this subject.
The range of topics covered in the clinic, which ran in September 2012, included eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, unexplained rashes, acne, rosacea, skin cancers and dry skin conditions.
The clinic is now closed to new questions but you can still read all of the discussions by following the links below.
The Experts
Dr Anton Alexandroff – consultant dermatologist
Dr Anton Alexandroff is a consultant dermatologist and the phototherapy clinical lead at the University Hospitals of Leicester. He also has private practices at Leicester Spire Hospital and Bedford BMI Manor Hospital and runs the regional alopecia clinic and the joint dermato-oncology clinic for the region.
Dr Alexandroff treats patients with a wide range of skin conditions, including acne, dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, moles and skin cancers, phototherapy, cryotherapy and hair loss (alopecia).
Dr Jonathan Bowling – consultant dermatologist
Jonathan Bowling is honorary senior clinical lecturer at the Oxford University Department of Dermatology. He was the chair of the Oxford LSMDT and West Thames Valley SSMDT for skin cancer. His main interests are dermatological surgery, dermoscopy, hair and nail pathology and the management of patients with skin cancer genetic syndromes.
He is the UK board member and faculty member of the World Congress of the International Dermoscopy Society and pioneered training in using dermoscopy for skin cancer diagnosis in the UK. Dr Bowling also co-founded the Annual International Dermoscopy Course for Plastic Surgeons in 2010.
Dr Christopher Bridgett – consultant psychiatrist
Christopher Bridgett is a specialist in adult general psychiatry who has also worked in dermatology since being first introduced to psychodermatology in 1971. Together with dermatologists Richard Staughton (London) and Peter Norén (Uppsala) he co-authored Atopic Skin Disease – A Manual for Practitioners, which sets out a behavioural approach for the successful management of atopic eczema.
Now retired from NHS practice, he has a private practice at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London and runs an online community for both practitioners and patients interested in using a combined approach to the treatment of atopic eczema.
Sheila Robertson – dermatology liaison nurse specialist
Sheila Robertson has had a varied career in nursing, specialising in dermatology for the past 20 years, progressing through outpatient, day treatment unit and inpatient facilities for dermatology patients. Her present post as dermatology liaison nurse specialist involves the follow-up of patients and families in their home environment, providing an important link between the community and hospital services. Sheila is currently president of the British Dermatological Nursing Group, an independent, professional organisation for dermatology nurses throughout the UK.
Janet Keyworth – dermatology specialist nurse
Janet is a clinical nurse specialist and has worked within dermatology for 18 years. She runs clinics in the hospital setting and also within the community.
One of the main conditions she sees is eczema and her role is to offer health education and support as well as providing a care plan on how to manage the condition.
Wendy Green – author
Wendy is the author of The Greatest Guide to Slimming & Healthy Living, which details how small, long-term behavioural, dietary and lifestyle changes can result in big improvements in your shape, health and fitness. She has been interested in health and weight control since her teens and teaches health promotion and nutrition courses in further and higher education.
For the past six years Wendy has co-ordinated and delivered Focus on Health, a project that offers a health promotion programme to the deaf community, including weight management, healthy cookery and walking for health.
