PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Peter Tyrer
AU  - Charles Fox
AU  - Catherine Gardiner
AU  - Roger Mulder
AU  - Helen Tyrer
TI  - Initial assessment of patients with putative functional disorders in medical settings
AID  - 10.7861/clinmed.2020-0832
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - Clinical Medicine
PG  - 8--12
VI  - 21
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/21/1/8.short
4100  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/21/1/8.full
SO  - Clin Med2021 Jan 01; 21
AB  - Patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of functional disorder are very frequent in practice. While it is always necessary to exclude treatable organic pathology, there are important clues in the presentation that can help the clinician. In particular, it is important to identify pathological health anxiety early in assessment, as failure to do so may lead to unnecessary investigations and the dangerous path of reinforcing reassurance. Because full assessment of functional symptoms takes time, it is suggested that a clinical support nurse with some training in psychological management should be available to guide the management of the patients with these disorders. Such support nurses, based in the clinic, offer a seamless way of providing care that is not achieved by external referral to psychologists or equivalent staff.