GP articles from May 2007

GP archives from May 2007

Exclusive: DoH to dump MPIG but new formula criticised.
May 25, 2007... Health minister Andy Burnham has said the MPIG is not permanent and should be phased out, at the same time as the RCGP issued a damning verdict on the revised Carr-Hill formula. In an exclusive interview, Mr Burnham said that the MPIG...

GP intervention cuts pounds 150m off CKD care costs.(chronic kidney disease)(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... Early detection and management of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in primary care could save the NHS in England pounds 150 million a year, UK research has suggested. Research by a team from the University of Sheffield found that early...

Protein protects against skin cancer.(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... The protein caspase-14, whose function has been unknown until now, offers protection against UV rays that can cause skin cancer, according to Belgian research. For the study, researchers developed knock-out mice that could no longer produce...

Meldrum bids to become BMA chairman.(Hamish Meldrum, British Medical Association)(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... GPC chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum is one of two senior GPs who have confirmed that they will stand for election to become the next BMA chairman. Tower Hamlets, East London, GP Dr Sam Everington, who is BMA deputy chairman, will also be in...

Combination inhalers can cut lung function decline.(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... Treating COPD with a combination inhaler can significantly reduce lung function decline, claim US researchers. Previously, only smoking cessation has been shown to slow progression of the disease. Findings from the 'Towards a...

HPV vaccines can protect against vaginal lesions.(Papillomavirus infections)(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... Vaccinating against human papilloma virus (HPV) could protect women against vulval and vaginal lesions, according to international trial findings. The study involved 18,174 women aged 16-24, who were randomly assigned to receive a...

Gel from blood can heal wounds.(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... A gel made from platelets taken from a patient's own blood could help heal wounds more quickly and thoroughly, according to US research. The findings come from a study that looked at the effectiveness of the autologous platelet gel in...

Research Brief: Tongue cancer and gum disease linked.(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... Men with chronic gum disease may have an increased risk of tongue cancer regardless of whether they smoke, according to US research. The study involved 51 men with tongue cancer and 54 without. Periodontitis was assessed in X-rays of the...

Research Brief: An alcoholic drink each day may delay dementia.(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... Having an alcoholic drink each day may slow the progression of dementia in people with mild cognitive impairment, say US researchers They evaluated alcohol consumption and the incidence of mild cognitive impairment in 1,445 people, aged 65 to...

Research Brief: HIV runaway theory refuted by researchers.(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... HIV's effect on white blood cells has been questioned by UK researchers. They have refuted the long-standing runaway theory of HIV, which says that cells infected by HIV produce more HIV particles which leads to HIV production and cell...

Research Brief: Workstation designed to help obese workers.(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... A vertical workstation could allow employees to exercise and lose weight while they work, according to UK research. The workstation consists of a computer, keyboard and treadmill. In a trial, 15 obese volunteers burned an average of 191...

NICE demanding greater say on immunisations.(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... NICE wants to be involved in decisions made by the National Screening Committee and the Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation (JCVI). In NICE's submission to the House of Commons Health Select Committee, which is investigating the...

BMA chairman resigns over 'insensitive' letter.(Jim Johnson, British Medical Association)
May 25, 2007... BMA chairman Jim Johnson blamed unhappiness within the BMA over a letter he wrote to The Times about the Medical Training Application System (MTAS) for his shock resignation. Mr Johnson, a vascular surgeon at Halton Hospital in Runcorn,...

NICE 'traffic light' guidance helps to assess child fever.(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... GPs should use a 'traffic light' system for assessing children with fever, according to guidance issued by NICE this week. Between 20 and 40 per cent of parents of under-fives seek healthcare for their children's feverish illnesses each...

MI targets 'not tough enough'.(myocardial infarction)(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... The updated NICE recommendations for the secondary prevention of MI should recommend lower target levels for cholesterol and LDL, according to a member of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society (PCCS). West London GP Dr Sarah Jarvis, a...

Access and choice DESs to continue.(directed enhanced services, United Kingdom National Health Service and General Practitioners Committee make a deal)
May 25, 2007... Directed enhanced services (DESs) in England for access, and choice and booking have been reinstated for 2007/8 after a deal between NHS Employers and the GPC. The two enhanced services, worth up to pounds 18,000 a year to an average...

'Scrap performers lists' demands GPC.(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... GP leaders are calling for performers lists to be scrapped because they may be open to abuse by heavy-handed primary care organisations (PCOs). The DoH launched a review of the performers list system last week, looking at what could...

MI risks of diabetes drug.(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... Rosiglitazone (Avandia) could increase the risk of MI by 43 per cent in patients with type-2 diabetes, US scientists claim. The findings come from a meta-analysis of 42 trials, involving almost 18,000 patients aged an average of 56 years....

Hewitt supports greater private sector role in PCTs.(primary care trust, Patricia Hewitt on practice-based commissioning)(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... The private sector may have an increasing role in PCT management after a King's Fund report found managers were hampering practice-based commissioning, according to health secretary Patricia Hewitt. Speaking at the NHS Alliance spring...

Early diagnosis is key to care of dementia.
May 25, 2007... GPs should diagnose dementia as early as possible rather than use watchful waiting, according to a GP expert in dementia. GPs were taking too long to refer patients with dementia to secondary care, Newcastle GP Dr Louise Robinson, who has...

Trainers' grants to be paid in June.(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... Grants for trainers worth pounds 750 in 2006/7 but never paid in England are expected to be handed out next month. Trainers hope that the grant will become an annual rather than a one-off payment. The money was paid out last year in Wales,...

NAPC criticises the BMA.(National Association of Primary Care, British Medical Association)(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... The BMA's plan to close the purchaser-provider divide (GP, 11 May) has been criticised by the National Association of Primary Care. NAPC chairman Dr James Kingsland said: 'The BMA should be supporting and encouraging both GPs and...

Cameron urges Brown to work with GPs.(David Cameron and Gordon Brown, general practitioners)(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... Conservative party leader David Cameron this week urged Gordon Brown to stop confrontation and start co-operation with GPs. 'Brown should immediately open positive negotiations with GPs instead of attacking them,' said Mr Cameron. Other NHS...

Increase in academics in med schools needed.(Brief article)(Statistical data)
May 25, 2007... Urgent action is needed to reverse the continuing decline in the number of academics working in UK medical schools, according to the BMA Figures from the Medical Schools Council show that the clinical academic workforce fell by 1 per cent to...

GPs comment on safety of maternity services.
May 25, 2007... GPs, midwives, obstetricians and gynaecologists are being asked to submit evidence to a King's Fund independent inquiry into the safety of maternity services in England which closes on 30 May. It takes 20 minutes to answer key questions at...

Apple group allows GPs to exchange advice.(Apple Group, general practitioners join user group)(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... GPs who use Apple Macintosh computers have been invited to join a user group set up to enable medical professionals to swap advice. The national user group for the EMIS computer system launched the Apple group after noticing that the number...

The origins of modern-day medicine.(Coalition for Medical Progress to release booklet)(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... A booklet explaining where medicines come from will be available for GPs in the autumn. It follows the progress of medicine from basic research up to the point when new medicine is prescribed for the patient. The booklet outlines the role of...

GPs hit back at claim that poor scrips cost millions.(general practitioners unhappy with National Audit Office )
May 25, 2007... GPs who advised the National Audit Office (NAO) on prescribing in primary care have denounced its public presentation of a report that accused the profession of wasting millions of pounds. Dr Jim Kennedy, RCGP prescribing spokesman and a...

Met Office helps cut COPD admissions.(chronic obstructive lung disease)(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... A Devon practice cut COPD-related hospital admissions by 86 per cent thanks to work with the Met Office. The Chilcote Surgery in Torbay used the Met Office's twice-weekly weather forecasts to help patients identify weather that might...

Health ministers are appointed in Scotland and NI.(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... GPs in Scotland and Northern Ireland welcomed new health ministers last week. GPC Northern Ireland chairman Dr Brian Dunn said Michael McGimpsey, Ulster Unionist member for Belfast South, was a 'surprise choice' as minister for health,...

DoH wants PBC to fund diabetes work.(practice-based commissioning)
May 25, 2007... GPs could be paid through practice-based commissioning (PBC) to carry out annual assessments for diabetes if hospital waiting lists are too long, the DoH has said. DoH diabetes czar Dr Sue Roberts said moving workload from secondary to...

Aspirin in pregnancy 'cuts pre-eclampsia'.(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... Low-dose aspirin in pregnancy could be a way of reducing the risk of pre-eclampsia in women at high risk, claim Australian researchers. The findings come from a meta-analysis of 31 trials, which included more than 32,000 women and their...

GPs warned not to apply for senior positions in Ireland.(general practitioners, Irish Medical Organisation opposes rules)(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... Ireland's equivalent of the BMA has asked UK GPs not to apply for senior clinical posts in Ireland after a row with the Irish government. Sixty-eight senior posts have been created by the Irish government, but the Irish Medical...

Behind The Headlines: Do Mediterranean diets cut COPD?(chronic obstructive lung disease)
May 25, 2007... Risk of COPD may be reduced by eating a Mediterranean diet, Sanjay Tanday reports WHAT IS THE STORY? Eating a diet rich in Mediterranean foods, such as fruit, vegetables, fish and olive oil, can reduce the risk of developing serious...

What GPs want from the next PM.(Gordon Brown in waiting)
May 25, 2007... Prime minister in waiting Gordon Brown has already incurred the wrath of GPs with comments about out-of-hours and longer surgery hours. GP asked LMC secretaries what they wanted from the new regime. Their ideas include depoliticising the...

Opinion: Unsanitary realities of life.(Column)
May 25, 2007... A few years ago I was at a rugby match in Toulouse. As Francophile as Belloc ('Every civilised man has two native countries: his own and France,' he said, one night when he and G K Chesterton were on the rip), I wanted to look like a local,...

Opinion: Producing lions out of nowhere.(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... Numbers are dangerous. I demonstrated this conclusively when I took natural science finals and proved without a doubt in the data handling paper that there were minus 306 elephants in the Masai Mara National Park. I had studied the...

Editorial: The BMA must now lead from the front.(British Medical Association)(Editorial)
May 25, 2007... The next month is going to be critical for the future of the BMA, and the future of the medical profession. Following the resignation of Jim Johnson as chairman, who is going to lead the association? More importantly, how is the association...

Opinion: Chris Lancelot on... The Amateurism of Blair.(Tony Blair)
May 25, 2007... What's the difference between an amateur and a professional? An amateur practises until he gets it right, a professional until he can't get it wrong. Amateurs (from the Latin amare: to love) do things because they love their subject - but...

Clinical: Journals Watch - NSAIDs, migraines and H pylori.(nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents research)(migraines can be the cause of cardiovascular disease)(helicobacter pylori reduces occurance of asthma)
May 25, 2007... Short of time for reading through the journals? Dr Suzanne Hunter guides you through the latest research PREVENTING NSAID RE-BLEEDS - LANCET 2007; 369: 1,621-26 It is well known that NSAIDs can cause peptic ulcers and high-risk...

Clinical: Managing rheumatoid arthritis.
May 25, 2007... Early referral is recommended for patients who are suspected to have rheumatoid arthritis, says Dr Louise Warburton. Last July, the British Society for Rheumatology produced a guideline for the management of rheumatoid arthritis in the...

Clinical: The management of acne.
May 25, 2007... 1. CLINICAL FEATURES Despite being dismissed as just one of the many difficulties of adolescence, acne can have a significant impact on quality of life, sometimes for many years. But there are effective treatments available. The...

Clinical: The best and worst websites on acne.(Website list)
May 25, 2007... Dr Keith Barnard recommends various websites relating to acne. ON OVERVIEW OF ACNE The author of this article adopts a sensible and sympathetic approach to dealing with acne. I like the simple touches such as reminding us to...

Clinical: Presentations of keloid scarring.
May 25, 2007... HYPERTROPHIC SCAR There is a risk of scarring with any operation and patients must consider not only the immediate and long-term results of surgery and the anaesthetic, but also the cosmetic result. This patient elected for breast...

Registrar: People Management - How to deal with harassment.
May 25, 2007... Harassment is a complicated issue but victims need to address it, says Dr Alison Glenesk. GPs are sometimes subject to harassment from colleagues and patients. But in our role as employers, we have as much potential to be accused of...

Registrar: MRCGP Exam Update - Managing prehypertension.(Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners)
May 25, 2007... CURRENT SITUATION - There has been a lot of work done demonstrating the benefits of patients with 'prehypertension' being treated with medication to lower their BP. - Patients with prehypertension, or high-normal BP, are at...

Registrar: Pictorial - Case Study.(psoriasis diagnosys)(Brief article)
May 25, 2007... THE CASE A 40-year-old woman presented with erythematous rashes of various size and shape. They mainly affected her forearms but she had a few lesions on her scalp and trunk. The scales were silvery. She had a family history of psoriasis...

MedEconomics: Recruitment - How to... recruit the right staff for the job.
May 25, 2007... Choosing the wrong person for a vacancy can be time consuming and costly, says Rehan Pasha. GPs and practice managers are aware of the large amounts of time, resources and money that can go into recruiting the right person. More of the...

MedEconomics: Revalidation is approaching.(medical licenses from General Medical Council)
May 25, 2007... Relicensing and recertification will require work by GPs so start preparing now, advises Professor Ruth Chambers. Revalidation will start in 2009/10 or soon after and I believe it is in GPs' interests to begin preparing for it now. ...

MedEconomics: Inheritance tax and pension deferral.
May 25, 2007... RETIRING OVERSEAS Can UK inheritance tax (IHT) on my estate on death be avoided if I leave the UK and live abroad when I retire? Many UK citizens think that by retiring abroad they can change their country of domicile (normally, the...

MedEconomics: The debate over carbon offsetting.
May 25, 2007... Investigate the pros and cons of offsetting your practice's CO2 emissions, says Jennifer Taylor. Environmentalists are divided over carbon offsetting and whether compensating for carbon emitted by producing replacement carbon by, for...

MedEconomics: Smart software prints all kinds of labels.(Brother QL550)(Product/service evaluation)
May 25, 2007... Tired of rewriting labels, Dr Paul Bromley made his own software to do the job for him. Computers are ideally suited to automating mundane repetitive tasks - appointment slips and pathology labelling for example. Third-party...

GP Life: A delectable mushroom medley.
May 25, 2007... Chris Duckham cooks up a sophisticated restaurant dish to tingle all mushroom lovers' palates. With a number of vegetarians dining with us at the restaurant it is always good to have one or two suitable dishes to call on if the need...

GP Life: The right price for New York.
May 25, 2007... After so long watching NYPD Blue and The Sopranos, and reading the New Yorker, it was high time that I paid a visit to New York. When the dollar dropped to two to a pound we could restrain ourselves no longer. Using up this year's carbon...

Plain Tales from the Surgery.
May 25, 2007... SHE IS OLD ENOUGH A while ago, a young, female patient attended the surgery for a repeat prescription of the Pill. She asserted that the current Pill 'suited her better than the other ones'. We covered the basics including BP and I...

GP newsprint now better for environment.(general practitioners)
May 18, 2007... GP is now printed on paper accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). This means the paper comes from a forest managed in an environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable manner. The system is...

GPs may be forced to continue unpaid work.
May 18, 2007... Enhanced services that practices continue to provide for free could be legally reclassified as essential services, the GPC has warned. As a result, practices could find themselves in breach of contract if they try to drop the work at a...

GPC ready to challenge Brown on out-of-hours.(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... The GPC has demanded a meeting with Labour leadership front runner Gordon Brown over fears he will divert cash away from GPs who have opted out of 24-hour responsibility if he becomes prime minister. The chancellor is reported to be...

Benefits of herpes.(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... Being infected with herpes simplex virus may have unexpected benefits, according to US research. Researchers have found that mice infected with either mouse gammaherpesvirus 68 or mouse cytomegaloviruses were resistant to infection from a...

Phosphate link to CVD without CKD.(cardiovascular disease )(chronic kidney disease )
May 18, 2007... High levels of serum phosphorus can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in people without chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to US research. Previous research had linked high levels of serum phosphorus and...

Multivitamins raise prostate cancer risk.(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... Regular multivitamin use doubles a man's risk of developing fatal prostate cancer, US research suggests. The findings come from a prospective study of 295,344 men who were free of cancer at baseline. Over five years of follow-up,...

Testosterone gel treats MS.(Multiple sclerosis)(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... Testosterone treatment may help reduce symptoms, slow brain degeneration and increase muscle mass in men with MS, say US researchers. Ten men with MS were monitored for a six-month period during which no treatment was administered. Each man...

Placental abnormality risk with caesareans.(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... Women who have caesarean sections are at increased risk of developing placental abnormalities in subsequent pregnancies, say Canadian researchers. Analysis of over 5 million pregnancies showed that women who had had a caesarean had a 47 per...

HPV linked to oropharyngeal cancer.(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... HPV infection can cause throat cancer in both men and women, US research suggests. The researchers studied 100 men and women newly diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer and 100 without. Those who had evidence of prior HPV infection were 32...

Venomous lizard aids diabetics.(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... A chemical in the saliva of the Gila monster, one of two venomous lizards in the world and native to the US and Mexico, could help to treat type-2 diabetes, say UK researchers. They have isolated exendin-4 in its saliva which is similar to a...

GPSIs put off by 'PCT accreditation'.(primary care trusts)(General practitioners with special interests)
May 18, 2007... The new accreditation system for GPSIs in England will put many GPs off training for a specialty, the GPC has warned. The system, launched by the DoH earlier this month, aims to bring all GPSIs up to a single national standard (GP, 4...

CHD prevention rise in Scotland due to quality indicators.(Coronary heart disease)(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... The introduction of the new GMS contract has improved the secondary prevention of CHD in the West of Scotland, according to Scottish research. Researchers analysed 19,884 patients with CHD, comparing the first month of the new contract,...

Lung cancer survival rates drop.(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... Lung and pancreatic cancer survival rates in England and Wales have fallen over the past 30 years, UK analysis has shown. Cancer Research UK published data this week showing that for all cancers in the UK, 10-year survival is now at 46.2...

Doctors fear NHS IT will never work as planned.(survey on United Kingdom's National Health Service' information technology)(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... Senior doctors and NHS managers fear that the NHS IT programme will never work properly, a survey shows. They report that uncertainty about policy and competition with other priorities for NHS finance have left local managers unable to...

Welsh GPs require better stroke care.(general practice)(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... Inadequate stroke services are increasing workload and lowering morale among GPs in Wales, GP leaders say. Results of the 2006 National Sentinel Audit for Stroke revealed that patients in Wales are more likely to die from stroke, or if...

NHS Employers take on all GMS negotiations.(national health service)(general medical service)(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... NHS Employers will handle 'all negotiations on the GMS contract', a senior figure in the organisation has insisted, after GP revealed GP leaders want talks with the DoH (GP, 20 April). GPC leaders said previous negotiations broke down...

'APMS competition unfair'.(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... The DoH has failed to create a level playing field for GPs competing with large, private firms for APMS contracts, according to the GPC. At last week's Primary Care 2007 conference in Birmingham, GPC chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum said:...

Fancy a medical?
May 18, 2007... GP columnist Dr Mary Selby, who doubles up as a trek doctor, hopes to raise pounds 10,000 from a charity ball to pay for porter shelters on the route to Everest. Dr Selby, a salaried GP at the Castle Hedingham Practice in Suffolk, hopes to...

Alarm symptoms can help to identify cancer.
May 18, 2007... GPs should pay close attention to patients presenting with alarm symptoms for underlying cancers, after UK research strengthened evidence to support their use. Particular attention should be paid to men and patients who are over the age...

Flu guidelines receive heavy criticism.(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... Draft DoH guidelines on pandemic flu have been criticised for plans to devolve management of an outbreak to a local level. A BMJ editorial said the move might not enable timely and effective implementation of interventions, or a consistent...

Exercise referrals no better than advice.(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... GP referral to exercise classes is no more effective than lifestyle advice at boosting exercise in patients at risk of cardiovascular disease, research shows. A National Institute for Health Research report says increases in exercise and...

Plastic surgery patients shun GPs advice.(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... Only one in eight patients consult their GP before deciding to have cosmetic surgery, according to research by Which? magazine. Only 15 per cent of people who had already had surgery and 11 per cent of people who were planning it had asked...

No liability for making an apology.(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... GPs can say sorry if they make a mistake without their apology being taken as a legal admission of liability, the MDU has reminded GPs Under the Compensation Act 2006, an apology is not 'an admission of negligence or breach of statutory...

GPs concerned over antenatal care.
May 18, 2007... Primary care 2007 - Concern over GP antenatal work, cervical screening age and childhood UTIs. GPs have criticised plans to move them further away from antenatal care, after NICE developed a tick-box tool for midwives to replace clinical...

Cervical screens still needed for under-25s.(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... Ruling women under 25 out of cervical screening could increase the number of cervical cancers diagnosed at later ages, a gynaecological oncologist has said. Speaking at the Primary Care 2007 conference in Birmingham, Dr Amanda Tristram,...

Treating children with UTIs without culture test result.(Urinary tract infections)(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... Children with suspected UTIs should be given antibiotics before confirmation of infection in some cases, said experts at the Primary Care 2007 conference. When culture test results are likely to be delayed - because the local laboratory...

Nicotine patches recommended to treat children.(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... GPs in Scotland received NHS guidance urging them to prescribe nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to smokers under 12. NHS Health Scotland is sending GPs and pharmacists updated guidance that says good practice to help young people quit...

Asthma needs to be a priority for the EU.(Brief article)
May 18, 2007... Asthma experts have launched a 10-point plan to make the condition a medical and political priority across the EU. The 'Brussels Declaration' calls for the medical community to recognise that asthma management in children must be...

Better training for GPs than other specialities.(Survey)
May 18, 2007... GP registrars are more likely than any other junior doctors to be satisfied with their training, according to the first National Trainee Survey. On virtually every count of satisfaction, GP registrars scored higher than their colleagues...