Hospital Doctor articles from July 2005

Hospital Doctor archives from July 2005

Honesty is the; best policy for; animal research.
July 7, 2005... Moving into the open about the nature of animal experiments, as well as research to reduce and refine them, could help to improve the image of this controversial scientific area, according to a recently published report. Janis Smy investigates...

Call for mobiles to replace 'outdated' bleeper system mobiles.(failure of bleep system)
July 7, 2005... communication By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Doctors are calling once again for permission to use mobile phones on wards after thunder disabled the bleep system at a London teaching hospital. The non-emergency bleep system at...

Calls to write off NHS debt.(National health service)(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... funding Doctors have attacked the Government for refusing to write off the NHS' [pounds sterling]140m debt while at the same time paying out billions of pounds to the private sector. Delegates at the BMA's annual conference last week...

letters.(Letter to the Editor)
July 7, 2005... Betrayed by the politicians Sir, Mr Nizam Mamode is correct in stating that politics is inevitable when in medicine (Caring enough to speak out, 23 June, page 11), and I agree that we all need to look beyond our own backyards. However, the...

In the red and closing beds.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... Many believe that the government's obsession with growing the private sector is leading to NHS bed, ward and service cuts. This week we launch a table listing recent closures. Radiology staff working at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust could...

Private provider not registered ; by watchdog.(registration and services of Levent Clinics)
July 7, 2005... warning signs for the profession over private sector safety By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk A private company that carried out thousands of cataract operations for the NHS was not registered with safety watchdog the...

Put safety first and profits last.(standanrds of independent sector treatment centres)(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... editorial comment Over the weekend, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt robustly defended use of the independent sector in the NHS. Apparently, capacity is being increased, waiting times slashed, patient choice promoted and value for money...

'Serious concern' over operations.(services of NHS hospitals)(investigations of Nuffield Hospitals )(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... hip replacements A group of radiologists has urged the Nuffield hospital in Leeds to audit NHS hip replacements performed there after they identified problems in two thirds of cases. The five musculoskeletal radiologists, from NHS...

Heroic in the face of terror.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2005... editorial comment On 6 July, I visited BMA House. As I walked down Upper Woburn Place, a white-van man shouted out that we'd won the 2012 Olympics. Everyone within earshot was jubilant, and we went on our way with smiles on our faces....

Brave deeds lower death toll outside BMA House.
July 14, 2005... A routine day was about to begin. Leaders of the Staff and Associate Specialist Committee had gathered to discuss progress on their new contract and a group of GPs had arrived for their regular Thursday meeting. But then the number 30 bus...

Opposing; evidence.
July 14, 2005... As the GMC sits in judgement on Prof Roy Meadow, the paediatrician accused of giving misleading evidence in the Sally Clark case, an examination of last year's GMC hearing of fellow professor David Southall reveals a series of flaws and...

letters.(Letter to the Editor)
July 14, 2005... No support for jobless Sir, I wholeheartedly welcome the warning that there is an issue with unemployment in the ranks of junior doctors (Juniors face dole queues, 23 June, front page). I experienced problems securing employment myself -...

Watchdog drags feet over cataract inquiry.(Netcare's 'Operation Cataract' under investigation)
July 14, 2005... ophthalmology By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk The health safety watchdog took more than two years to investigate allegations of poor infection control in NHS cataract operations carried out by a South African company. MP for...

Heros.(trained doctors can save more life in emergency)
July 14, 2005... By Emma Vere-Jones and Lisa Hitchen hospital.doctor@rbi.co.uk Exemplary implementation of the major incident plan by the emergency services in the wake of the London bombings prevented a much higher death toll, experts said this week. Within...

Unit 'understaffed and overstretched'.(maternity unit under scrutiny for maternal deaths )
July 21, 2005... obstetrics & gynaecology By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Consultants at a maternity unit which was under scrutiny for its record on maternal deaths had previously given up obstetrics to concentrate on gynaecology, a Healthcare...

Letters .(Letter to the Editor)
July 21, 2005... Wrong point on Real Story Sir, I was interested to read the editorial comment about the BBC's Real Story programme on addicted doctors, in which I was interviewed (Real Story got the wrong tale, 16 June, page 2). You ask why I let myself...

Cutting waiting lists to the bone.(National Orthopaedic Project)
July 21, 2005... The National Orthopaedic Project, set up 18 months ago, has helped trusts tackle waiting lists and broadly been heralded a success, although some consultants remain concerned about operations being farmed out to independent sector treatment...

Experts need protection too.(Welfare)(Brief Article)
July 21, 2005... editorial comment It was an emotional day for Sally Clark's family when the GMC found leading paediatrician Prof Sir Roy Meadow guilty of serious professional misconduct last week. She served three years in prison after being wrongly...

GMC modifies failing investigation process.(General Medical Council)(Brief Article)
July 21, 2005... complaints By Emma Vere-Jones The GMC is to refer more complaints back to trusts, after its new investigation procedures failed to work as planned. Since November, the GMC has removed doctors from the online register and notified...

GPs call shots in secret plan.(General Practitioners)
July 21, 2005... By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk A secret plan to save cash by cancelling large numbers of outpatient referrals from a group of West London hospitals has been uncovered by Hospital Doctor. A panel set up by Hammersmith and Fulham...

Roy Meadow verdict 'will hit recruitment'.(Cases)(Brief Article)
July 21, 2005... expert witnesses The GMC's verdict on Prof Sir Roy Meadow has enormous implications for expert witnesses in all fields of medicine, the chairman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has said. Sir Roy (above) was struck off the medical...

Anger at MRI scan reports.(Magnetic resonance imaging)(Brief Article)
July 21, 2005... outsourcing Alliance Medical has been accused of failing to double-report MRI scans as it promised. One consultant radiologist told Hospital Doctor that in around 80 per cent of the 100 reports he sampled, the initials of the radiologist...

Influx of graduates to fuel juniors' job crisis.(Brief Article)
July 21, 2005... recruitment The employment crisis for junior doctors looks likely to worsen as new figures show the number of international medical graduates entering the UK is up by a quarter. GMC figures show that between 1 January and 31 May this year...