Mark Barber talks to Kathy Oxtoby about the variety in stroke medicine and teaching “the old fashioned way”
Geriatrician and stroke physician Mark Barber is passionate about helping patients who have had a stroke.
Describing the sudden and potentially devastating impact of stroke, he reflects on how a patient can go from being well to very unwell in a matter of minutes. “Lots of other conditions build up over months, even years, and patients may have time to come to terms with what’s happening to them,” he says. “With stroke, unfortunately, it happens like the flick of a switch. And the sudden loss of health can feel like a bereavement.”
As stroke lead clinician at NHS Lanarkshire, one of Barber’s goals is to help stroke patients achieve some kind of normalcy. “As a doctor working in this type of acute care you can make a real difference. People make some amazing recoveries—it’s so satisfying to see,” he says.
He emphasises that those recoveries are a team effort, and that working as part of a team is one of the reasons stroke medicine appeals to him. “Professionals like stroke nurses and therapists are the people that really …