Objective: To document knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and eating habits of health professionals with respect to obesity, nutrition and weight management. Design: A self-complete questionnaire postal survey. Setting: Primary care and dietetic practice in Scotland. Subjects: A systematic stratified sample of 2290 subjects incorporated general practitioners (n ¼ 1400), practice nurses (n ¼ 613) and all practising dietitians (n ¼ 360) who were members of the British Dietetic Association. Results: The overall response rate was 65%. All professionals showed a clear understanding of nutrition and health. Understanding of obesity as a disease and of the effectiveness of weight management using low-energy diets was limited. Below 10% had carried out audit to determine the incidence of obesity and overweight, and most were uncertain about their own effectiveness in delivering weight management advice. Conclusion: This study confirms that health professionals have some knowledge of nutrition and weight management but are unclear how to deliver effective weight management advice. Further training is justified to ensure the effective provision of nutritional advice to patients.

This articles discusses some of the findings of a small-scale, localized, qualitative study involving children and young people identified and processed as young carers, that are providing 'substantial care' for an adult while in primary and/or secondary school. It explores their views on managing to 'care more' whilst at school and the role that teachers and schools do and could play in supporting them. The voices of young carers suggest that educational support should be available 'as soon as' children become primary carers. The interviewees were critical of the factors that they perceived compromised their 'performance' at school. Some implications of these findings for implementing strategies for carers in schools are discussed.

Clinical measures may have under-estimated distress in several South Asian groups. The results may be due to a preference for a particular language of emotion in the affected groups or to a higher frequency of stressful situations which provoke distinctive reactions.

Robotic surgical techniques are revolutionizing the way surgery is performed in an effort to improve patient outcomes. Although current literature is limited, studies have shown that patients who undergo robotic-assisted procedures experience reduced surgical time, scarring, blood loss, pain, infection rates, and lengths of stay compared with patients who undergo open or laparoscopic procedures. Currently, start-up costs for robotic systems are high and include the major equipment purchase as well as supplemental equipment purchases and staff member training. There is a need to develop standardized perioperative procedures or clinical guidelines that define optimal application of robotic-assisted surgery to ensure a standard of care that is consistent across procedures and operators. Implementing a clinical pathway or guideline that is guided by evidence-based practice will involve change. Lewin's 1947 basic change theory and the Marker umbrella model may be of use to help facilitate change.