Hospital Doctor articles from April 2005

Hospital Doctor archives from April 2005

Privatisation must 'not harm quality'.(Brief Article)
April 21, 2005... politics By Will Beacham will.beacham@rbi.co.uk Labour must ensure quality is not sacrificed for quantity if private sector involvement in the NHS grows further, doctors' leaders have said. The Labour Party manifesto contains a renewed...

Thinking about a way forward.(Brief Article)(Editorial)
April 21, 2005... editorial comment Are you thinking what I'm thinking - the standard of debate on the NHS in this general election has been rubbish. It's all targets, patient choice and emotive case studies, usually involving some poor soul with MRSA....

Care; crusader.(Kidderminster Hospital)
April 21, 2005... Frustrated by plans to axe services at Kidderminster Hospital, Dr Richard Taylor stood for and was elected to Parliament in 2001. So what has he achieved in the past four years and will he stand again? Janis Smy reports Dr Richard Taylor...

Full shift rotas 'exhaust SpRs'.(European Working Time Directive)
April 21, 2005... By Anna Barlow hospital.doctor@rbi.co.uk Junior physicians are exhausted and disillusioned by the full shift rotas introduced under the European Working Time Directive. A survey by the Royal College of Physicians of London (RCP) of SpRs in...

Protesting junior stands as MP.(Brief Article)
April 21, 2005... A junior doctor is so incensed at plans to downgrade the paediatric unit at his hospital that he is standing to become an independent MP. Dr Robert Hodges, an SHO on a paediatric rotation at Battledown Hospital, Chelte-nham, believes patients...

RCS accused of divisive tactics.(Brief Article)
April 21, 2005... surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) has been accused of denying surgeons a unified voice after it refused to fund a review of the Senate of Surgery which could have strengthened its role. Surgeons say development of the...

Europe to review on-call definition.(calculating on-call)(European Working Time Directive)(Brief Article)
April 21, 2005... A change in the way doctors calculate their on-call hours could come soon under a review taking place in Europe this week. If made law, under the European Working Time Directive, a third category of working time - inactive periods of on-call -...

Welsh Government ignores turmoil in 'third-world' A&E.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2005... emergency medicine Accident and emergency departments are in chaos throughout Wales and the Welsh Assembly is not taking any notice, a doctors' leader has said. Mr John Osborne, chairman of the BMA's consultants committee in Wales, said a...

How much power should surgical assistants have?
April 28, 2005... The recent launch of a surgical care practitioner curriculum has reignited the debate about how much autonomy these new professionals should have. Janis Smy takes the temperature A welcome extra pair of hands in the surgical team and a...

letters.
April 28, 2005... Outcome not whole story Sir, In his letter, Put outcomes above activity (7April, page 11), Dr Paul Shannon brandishes the wrong ends of several sticks. Dr Shannon claims that 'a football team who after losing, congratulate themselves on...

Senate of Surgery role review.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2005... representation In an attempt to placate the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS), the Senate of Surgery has agreed revised terms of reference for a review of its role as a voice for UK surgeons. The RCS recently refused to pay its...

E-booking sparks holiday warning.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2005... holidays The BMA is concerned that hospital doctors may be forced to give 13 weeks' notice of their holidays to fit into the new electronic patient appointment system. The Choose and Book system enables GPs and patients to make initial...

On-call docs losing sleep over safety.(on-call rooms)
April 28, 2005... out of hours By Anna Barlow hospital.doctor@rbi.co.uk Patient safety could be compromised because doctors are losing their on-call rooms and are unable to rest properly at night. New figures from anaesthetists and surgeons show that...

Stop insulting, start consulting.(Editorial)
April 28, 2005... editorial comment Well, you've got to admire Lord Warner's honesty. His outburst at the Royal College of Surgeons gave us a flash of controversy in an otherwise dull election campaign. On health, as on most issues, the Government has...

EU committee backs changes to on-call.(on-call working hours)(Brief Article)
April 28, 2005... out of hours A European Parliament committee this week voted through legislation paving the way for changes to the way doctors count their on-call working hours. Members of the Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs Committee agreed an...

Private provider 'cherry-picking' cataract patients.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2005... private providers A private provider is cherry-picking NHS cataract surgery patients by turning away 20 per cent of referrals as medically unfit. Of 1,051 NHS patients assessed for treatment by Netcare Healthcare UK in February 2005, 202...

Mental health NSF needs more funds.
April 28, 2005... mental health By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Underfunding is leading to problems with implementation of the national service framework (NSF) in mental health, the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) has said. Psychiatrists...

'You love waiting lists'.
April 28, 2005... By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Health Minister Lord Warner was booed by senior orthopaedic surgeons after he accused them of 'loving' waiting lists, implying they wanted to protect their private practice work. Lord Warner made the...