Comment: Seasonal dermatology

It was not long after starting my dermatology career that I realised there was a seasonal pattern to the case mix. In the winter, we see greater numbers of itchy elderly patients – due in part to the low humidity promoted by colder weather, combined with central heating and double glazing. In the summer, patients seem to take off their clothes and, in some cases, get such a fright at what they see that they head off to show their doctor the new mole, or lesion, that has, presumably, been there for some months. In sunny Lincolnshire, dealing with the two week wait referrals is such a pressing issue for management that I have been asked to go back to running a two-week wait clinic this summer.