Hospital Doctor articles from January 2007

Hospital Doctor archives from January 2007

Bright new look for a new year.(Hospital Doctor)(Brief article)
January 11, 2007... Hospital Doctor comment Welcome to the new look Hospital Doctor. This issue sees not just a bright new design, new columnists, new series and a host of novel features, it also heralds some significant developments in our editorial...

Competition fierce for run-through posts.(medical training in full swing as recruitment begins)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
January 11, 2007... training Competition for new run-through training posts looks set to be fierce in some specialties while others could be undersubscribed when recruitment opens later this month, a national survey finds. Surgery (15% oversubscribed),...

Letters to the Editor.(Letter to the editor)
January 11, 2007... Why the rush for new consultants? Dear Editor Due to us all living longer and the already substantial pension deficit for members of the medical profession, it is highly unlikely that doctors entering Modernising Medical Careers...

Doctors in the media.
January 11, 2007... When they are not hounding doctors over the latest medical scandal, they are courting them to dispense advice from TV studio sofas. So how much sway do the media have over the profession's image, regulation and practice? Corin Williams...

Juniors fear 'dead-end'.
January 11, 2007... Elizabeth.Fox@rbi.co.uk Junior doctors fear they could end up in 'dead-end' jobs after discovering that almost one in three specialty training posts in England will be fixed-term specialty training appointments (FTSTAs). Figures...

PCT billed [pounds sterling]1m for ISTC delay.(primary care trust pays Capio Healthcare UK, independent sector treatment centre)
January 11, 2007... service provision Melanie.Newman@rbi.co.uk A primary care trust (PCT) has been forced to pay a private company [pounds sterling]1m because an independent sector treatment centre (ISTC) did not open on time. Oxfordshire PCT was...

Forensics firm deal collapses.
January 11, 2007... services Lisa.Hitchen@rbi.co.uk A company providing forensic and legal medical services to police forces across the south-west has gone into administration nine months after securing a seven-county contract. Doctors and other...

Visa verdict awaited.
January 18, 2007... overseas doctors Elizabeth.Fox@rbi.co.uk Overseas doctors are waiting anxiously for a verdict on the legality of changes to the immigration rules - fearing it may come too late for the start of specialty training applications. ...

Colleges to set up separate MRCS exams.
January 18, 2007... Training The Royal Colleges of Surgeons of England (RCS) and of Edinburgh (RCSEd) are setting up competing, college-specific replacements for the intercollegiate MRCS exam. The current MRCS will be scrapped in 2009 and replaced by an...

A&E access limit fears.(accident and emergency)
January 18, 2007... Services Melanie.Newman@rbi.co.uk A Government plan for urgent care services could prevent patients self-referring for emergencies and close A&E departments, medical colleges are warning. Colleges have condemned the DoH proposals,...

Go back to square one on A&E plans.(accident and emergency, United Kingdom Department of Health plans objected by royal colleges)(Brief article)
January 18, 2007... Hospital Doctor comment The latest DoH plan for urgent care has been slammed by royal colleges for being vague and wishy-washy to the extent that there is almost no mention of A&E in it. What is clear from the string of criticisms laid out...

GPs hire surgeon to cut wait times.(general practitioners at Bishopgate Medical Centre )
January 18, 2007... commissioning Melanie.Newman@rbi.co.uk A group of GPs has hired its own surgeon to perform waiting-list work, causing tension with the local NHS trust. Doctors at Bishopsgate Medical Centre in Bishop Auckland have angered County...

Letters to the Editor.(Letter to the editor)
January 18, 2007... 'Expert witness' system needs to be collaborative Dear Editor I strongly disagree with many of Prof Anne Mortimer's views (7 December, page 16) on supporting the independence of medical expert witnesses in UK courts. As a...

NHS advertising.(National Health Service)
January 18, 2007... With the Department of Health consulting on plans to allow NHS hospitals to advertise, Jennifer Veitch canvasses opinion from doctors in primary and secondary care The people running the NHS have been obsessed with reducing the...

BMA: 'Give private firms NHS pension'.
January 25, 2007... Superannuation Melanie.Newman@rbi.co.uk The BMA wants the NHS pension scheme to be extended to employees of private companies that treat NHS patients, in a move backed by private providers. Extending the scheme is likely to...

PCT set to divert all GP referrals.
January 25, 2007... treatment centres Melanie.Newman@rbi.co.uk A primary care trust (PCT) has agreed to send all GP referrals to a private treatment centre in advance of a public consultation on the centre. The move has prompted the BMA to label the...

Applying for posts gets a site worse.(Medical Training Application Service's website)(Brief article)
January 25, 2007... Hospital Doctor comment It didn't require the powers of Nostradamus to predict the problems facing juniors trying to apply for jobs using the Medical Training Application Service (MTAS). There were some ugly crashes and error messages...

Row over faults in training post data.(Medical Training Application System website shows discrepancies)(Brief article)
January 25, 2007... job applications Elizabeth.Fox@rbi.co.uk Angry junior doctors have uncovered major discrepancies in the availability of specialty training posts after logging on to the Medical Training Application System (MTAS) this week. Before...

No agreement on small print in SAS deal as crucial vote nears.(staff and associate specialist )(Brief article)
January 25, 2007... sas contract Vital aspects of the new staff and associate specialist (SAS) contract are still under negotiation, Hospital Doctor has learned. Although formal negotiations ended last July, NHS Employers (NHSE) and the BMA have still not...

Letters to the Editor.(Letter to the editor)
January 25, 2007... SAS team have to start all over again Dear Editor I am not at all surprised that, after more than a year of SAS negotiations with the DoH, the new contract is likely to end in disaster unless SAS negotiators heed my timely warning. ...

Charging.
January 25, 2007... Patients could soon have to make co-payments for NHS care - but who will pay and for what? Francesca Robinson looks at the options The NHS system of charges has famously been described as a 'dog's dinner' by Lord Lipsey of the Social Market...