BOOK REVIEW |
Practical Occupational Medicine, 2nd edition. Raymond Agius and Anthony Seaton. Published by Hodder Arnold, 2005. ISBN 0340 75947. Price: £34.99
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Practical Occupational Medicine is the first new UK general textbook of occupational medicine of this millennium. It is produced by two eminent leaders of occupational medicine in the UK. In these regards, it is long awaited and expectations are high.
For the most part, it is to the point, not too heavy to carry around and full of useful information. The chapters are clearly structured and the book is comprehensively indexed. It is written in a very readable style illustrated with many excellent case examples that bring a welcome realism to the theory. Some of these create a clear image of the presentation and management of diseases that most practitioners will rarely see.
The first edition was an excellent overview that has served many well. It has been a permanent feature of recommended reading lists for students of occupational medicine. It was first and foremost ‘practical’.
Over a decade has passed since that first edition was published. Since then there has been the emergence of important new employment law on discrimination, pension reform, substantial changes to UK occupational health provision (e.g. NHS Plus), a keener focus on clinical governance, new ways of training occupational physicians, standards and legal principles for the management of psychological risks and new health and safety legislation. In short, the revision of a well-loved core textbook has been overdue.
Unfortunately, while the first edition gave exactly what it offered this second edition does not. Large sections of the text appear not to have been revised at all with data from the early 1990s and out of date references (e.g. DSS and describing the Manual Handling Regulations as new). Even the new chapters do not quite deliver on expectations. As an introductory resource it has a flaw; there are very few references so the student is not guided to further information and for reasons that are not clear only one of the 11 chapters has a list of references. This has the appearance of a proof reading or printing error (and there are other hints of this elsewhere). Also, the gaps in the book are too great. It seems to have lost that founding in day-to-day practice that made the first edition so valuable. For example, subjects such as anxiety, tribunals and work-related upper limb disorders are barely covered.
The second edition is a timely reminder of how good the first edition was and remains.
It should be dusted down and given a more prominent place on the bookshelf. An up to date introductory text that can be recommended to students and colleagues has still not been published for some years. Really good occupational medicine books do not come along often enough. A completely revised third edition of Practical Occupational Medicine is needed soon.
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