SPOTLIGHT: CONSULTANT NEUROLOGIST


Dr Paul Bentley with his innovation, Gripable


A DAY’S WORK


ALL IN


Dr Paul Bentley is a consultant neurologist at the Trust and senior lecturer in brain sciences at Imperial College London. His research focuses on innovative digital technologies such as portable robotics to supplement physiotherapy, and AI for clinical assessment and diagnosis.


MY ALARM GOES OFF…


at 6.45. First thing is to drive teenage daughter 400m up the road to the school bus stop. God forbid she should have to walk and sprain an ankle…


I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR… leading on research projects that translate the latest digital technologies into improving medical practice. This is best achieved by being at the coal face for half the week, looking after patients, and seeing where the needs are. Then, ditching the white coat (metaphorical, of course – white coats are now banned),  how we can apply their tools to the  


I GOT MY JOB…


ten years ago when stroke medicine was an unpopular, small discipline that had little in the way of treatments or  dramatically. Many patients with severe paralysis can be cured (if caught early enough), and we now use sophisticated scans that visualise changes in blood  hours of stroke and help us target our interventions.


MY TYPICAL DAY…


on Mondays, I’m in charge of all new admissions to the hyper acute stroke unit


18 /Trust


at Charing Cross Hospital, which covers a catchment population of several million people. When an emergency comes in we have only 30 minutes to diagnose and treat the patient. This helps ensure their recovery is optimal.


MY MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT… was being awarded £1.1 million from the National Institute of Health Research in 2018 to develop an innovation – called Gripable – allowing patients with arm disability to exercise by themselves, and so recover faster. The invention will be  to play interactive therapy games on the web, with other disabled people or abled members of the public who simply wish to help by playing computer games.


THE HARDEST PART OF MY JOB… is endless bureaucracy. Hopefully there’ll be an AI solution to these chores one day.


THE BEST PART OF MY JOB… Working alongside world-leading engineers, and computer scientists, and getting that “Aha” moment when you realise their methods, applied appropriately, could solve a major healthcare problem.


OUTSIDE OF WORK YOU WILL FIND ME…


running around Hampstead Heath, working my way through piano grade exams (never too late to start), drinking expensive single malts and watching Harry Kane.


www.imperial.nhs.uk


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