Hospital Doctor articles from March 2005

Hospital Doctor archives from March 2005

Full speed ahead.(National Clinical Assessment Authority (NCAA))(National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA))
March 3, 2005... Condemned as ineffective since its launch four years ago, the NCAA is finally showing some success. Emma Vere-Jones talks to the man who is turning it around There was no shortage of doubters at the inception of the National Clinical...

letters.(Letter to the Editor)
March 3, 2005... My own 1984 nightmare Sir, When I qualified in 1984, I earned less an hour than the lady who cleaned my on-call room (my take-home pay was around [pounds sterling]650 a month for weeks in excess of 100 hours). I have committed my last 20...

BMA adds to criticism of training certificate.(Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB))(Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT))(Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training (CCST))(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... training By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk The BMA has added its voice to others criticising plans to award the new Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) to doctors currently in training. Juniors have argued this will...

Paying price of market forces.(relative pay of anaesthetists and surgeons )
March 3, 2005... editorial comment A reader contacted me expressing irritation at the debate over the relative pay anaesthetists and surgeons should receive for treating NHS patients in the private sector. Understandably, anaesthetists are after equal...

Anger at Government 'cop-out' on alcohol.(public health white paper)
March 3, 2005... public health By Lisa Hitchen lisa.hitchen@rbi.co.uk Doctors have condemned the Government's 'weak' plans to tackle alcohol issues in its public health white paper. In its submission to the Commons Health Committee inquiry into England's...

Anger at funding provision.(National Health Service)(Doctors in Cheshire and Merseyside are livid)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... diagnostics Doctors in Cheshire and Merseyside are livid that none of the [pounds sterling]1bn extra funding for diagnostics announced by the Government last week will be spent in under-funded NHS trusts. Waiting times for some patients at...

EU hours law hits surgical training time.(Junior surgeons' training)(European Working Time Directive)
March 3, 2005... By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Junior surgeons' training is being severely affected by the European Working Time Directive, a major new study reveals. The Royal College of Surgeons of England's (RCS) survey of 1,323 trainee surgeons...

Help for failing doctors.(Modernising Medical Careers (MMC).)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... reform Failing doctors will be identified earlier in their careers as a result of new measures being introduced under Modernising Medical Careers (MMC). An 'early warning system' is being built into the foundation programme which will...

Seniors seek action over funding crisis.(British Medical Association)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... welsh contract Furious consultants in Wales are considering industrial action after the Welsh Assembly failed to release money to fund their new contract, further delaying its implementation. The Assembly's auditors have yet to agree the...

letters.(Letter to the Editor)
March 10, 2005... Pension plan drives us out Sir, It appears the Government is determined to destroy the NHS. It is doing this overtly by the inherent privatisation built into The NHS Improvement Plan, and by stealth through disenfranchising the medical...

Bull market in psychiatry pay.(surveys of English trusts )(Brief Article)
March 10, 2005... Locums By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Locum psychiatrists are dictating favourable terms to NHS trusts, a new report reveals. The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health survey of 59 trusts shows locums are taking advantage of the...

NHS locum supplier under investigation.(National Health Service)(Office of Fair Trading investigates)(Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC))(National Health Service Professionals)(Brief Article)
March 10, 2005... competition law The European Commission and the Office of Fair Trading have begun a probe into the NHS's locum supplier, after a complaint from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). The REC, which represents commercial...

Surgical training hit by Hospital at Night.
March 10, 2005... working practices By Emma Vere-Jones emma.vere.jones@rbi.co.uk The Hospital at Night (HaN) scheme has been more successful in medicine than in surgery, according to latest research on its effectiveness. Presenting initial findings at an...

Are you part of a profession?(Modernising Medical Careers pilot studies)(feedback from National Health Service trusts)(Brief Article)
March 10, 2005... editorial comment That is the question a high-profile working party within the Royal College of Physicians is currently considering. Many of the traits that define professionalism, such as autonomy, accountability and competence, are...

Extra funds vital for MMC.(Modernising Medical Careers)
March 10, 2005... By Emma Vere-Jones emma.vere.jones@rbi.co.uk The success of Modernising Medical Careers will be compromised unless extra funding is injected to pay consultants for training time, new feedback from pilot sites shows. Results from the MMC pilot...

Trusts blame DoH for; shortfalls in funding.(Department of Health)(Brief Article)
March 10, 2005... consultant contract NHS trusts have blasted the Department of Health (DoH) for underfunding the consultant contract in England. A DoH survey of 95 per cent of trusts reveals many have fears about reducing consultants' workload in the next...

Far from academic.
March 17, 2005... The future of academic medicine in the UK is cause for serious concern. Shortly, the Walport report will be published, calling for greater flexibility to allow research to take place more easily alongside clinical practice and for better...

letters.(Letter to the Editor)
March 17, 2005... Fed up with exploitation Sir, Six months ago I left a well-paid job in finance to join a graduate entry programme to become a doctor. Now, merely half a year after making that life decision, I am returning to the business world, even...

A&E waiting survey gets mixed reaction.(Accident and Emergency)(Brief Article)
March 17, 2005... BMA survey By Anna Barlow hospital.doctor@rbi.co.uk The British Association for Accident and Emergency Medicine (BAEM) is surprised with the results of a new survey criticising the impact of the four-hour waiting target on A&E. In a new...

The profession needs a plan B.(Brief Article)(Editorial)
March 17, 2005... editorial comment Few doctors buy a yacht or, indeed, have to pay for the upbringing of their grandchildren in retirement. But, as the pension models finally start to appear and the real differences between the career-average and...

Pensions shortfall.(Brief Article)
March 17, 2005... By Will Beacham will.beacham@rbi.co.uk The next generation of high-flying consultants would need to find an extra [pounds sterling]460,000 to maintain their retirement income at the level of the old pension scheme, exclusive figures reveal. The...

Surgeons boycott the National Joint Registry.(Brief Article)
March 17, 2005... orthopaedics By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Doctors are failing to take part in the National Joint Registry (NJR) because they fear the data may be used to form performance league tables. A new study of 255 orthopaedic surgeons...

Why PFIs are causing professional concern.(private finance initiative)
March 24, 2005... Is the private sector making a quick buck out of Private Finance Initiative hospitals or is PFI necessary to deliver high standards of care in modern settings? Francesca Robinson hears both sides of the debate Revelations that a private...

Guaranteeing NHS work to private sector halted.(National Health Service)(Brief Article)
March 24, 2005... patient choice By Melanie Newman melanie newman@rbi.co.uk Doctors have welcomed the Government's decision to stop giving the private sector guaranteed volumes of NHS patients. NHS chief executive Sir Nigel Crisp said last week that in...

letters .(Letter to the Editor)
March 24, 2005... Idea to thwart pension plan Sir, Doctors traditionally feel uncomfortable about taking industrial action, so although feelings are strong about the proposed pension changes, action that will have sufficient impact to make the Government...

Equality tsar will get tough on NHS racists.(National Health Service)(Brief Article)
March 24, 2005... working practices The Department of Health's equality tsar has vowed to publicly shame individuals who fail in their duty to promote diversity in the NHS. The recently appointed NHS national director for equality and human rights, Surinder...

Give patients a real choice.(Brief Article)(Editorial)
March 24, 2005... editorial comment Patient choice has been compromised by the Government's imposition of quotas on patients using the private sector. In Oxfordshire, for example, trust managers resigned when Whitehall put pressure on them to sign up to...

College urges checks on all private scans.(Royal College of Radiologists)(Brief Article)
March 24, 2005... radiology The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) has told its members that radiology departments should continue to check scans carried out by Alliance Medical. In a memo, seen by Hospital Doctor, the college said that although there were...

Job market shuns foreign graduates.(Brief Article)
March 24, 2005... training By Emma Vere-Jones emma.vere.jones@rbi.co.uk A GMC council member has accused the regulator of being 'inhumane', after figures showed that international medical graduates are forced to apply hundreds of times for junior posts....