Schizophrenia: A stepwise approach to co-ordination of care
Introduction
Poor response to antipsychotics remains a major challenge for clinicians managing schizophrenia. Treatment-refractory illness occurs in about 20 -40% of all patients with schizophrenia. Only one pharmacological agent – clozapine – is considered effective for those with treatment-refractory illness.
The following case illustrates how clozapine can stabilise a patient with treatment-refractory schizophrenia and presents a typical shared care prescribing arrangement in primary care.
Case presentation