Hospital Doctor articles from March 2006

Hospital Doctor archives from March 2006

NHS hospitals could pay for patient rip-off.
March 16, 2006... Overpriced car parking, bedside phones and TVs have been in the headlines lately. But will the Office of Fair Trading, Commons' health committee and DoH do anything or does this mark the beginning of the end of free NHS services? Jennifer...

letters.
March 16, 2006... MMC leaders are clueless Sir, I was dismayed by a recent presentation at the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) by Prof Alan Crockard, national director of Modernising Medical Careers, and other senior doctors to a group of junior doctors who...

Future ISTCs 'must be integrated with NHS'.
March 16, 2006... isTcs: facing scrutiny as parliamentary inquiry begins By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk The next wave of independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs) must be totally integrated with the NHS, leading doctors told the...

CEO's quitting 'just start of NHS woes'.
March 16, 2006... Budget deficits By Liz Fox elizabeth.fox@rbi.co.uk The Government faces a painful slog to get the NHS back on track following the sudden departure of NHS chief executive Sir Nigel Crisp, according to a King's Fund health...

Beware: crises need fall guys.(national health service)
March 16, 2006... editorial comment Every minister needs a scapegoat when times get tough. As the NHS plummeted further into debt, Sir Nigel Crisp became the Health Secretary's. But his 'retirement' hasn't relieved the heat, and the incredulous...

No 11 holds up pay deal.
March 16, 2006... By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk The Government will face a demoralised and uncooperative workforce if it over-rules the independent pay review body's recommendations, the BMA has warned. The Doctors and Dentists Review...

MDU 'could exclude blameless doctors'.
March 16, 2006... medical defence Doctors working exclusively in private practice or who recei-ved unfounded complaints have been considered risky under a secret Medical Defence Union (MDU) scoring system. The system for assessing members' risk could...

Security flaw found in online F1 system.(Thames Foundation School Scheme (TFSS))(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... training A junior doctor applying for foundation year jobs has uncovered major security flaws in the online application system. The F1 doctor from the South East Thames Founda-tion School, who did not wish to be named, told Hospital...

Farewell to old relationships.(Brief article)
March 23, 2006... editorial comment Radical solutions have been proposed this week for the staffing of changing local services. The National Leadership Network (NLN) proposes that doctors be employed by clinical networks of hospitals working with...

Half of training jobs to be held for SHOs.
March 23, 2006... Surgical Trainees conference By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Half of the first-year specialty training posts in 2007 may be reserved for current SHOs, the president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) has...

Passing the bar to pass the gas.(Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland)
March 30, 2006... Training of anaesthesia practitioners is cautiously expanding in the UK, amid some controversy. With Edinburgh University launching a training programme and the first five practitioners due to qualify in England this October, Jennifer Veitch...

Consultants told to cut their activities.
March 30, 2006... funding crisis By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Consultants at the Royal Free Hospital NHS Trust in north London have been told to cut 200 programmed activities (PAs) in the next planning review. The medical...

Cruel cure for job imbalance.(department of health)(Editorial)
March 30, 2006... editorial comment The DoH is making a habit of getting reform only half right. A year ago, Hospital Doctor started reporting that many UK-trained juniors were struggling to get jobs in the NHS. An increase in the number of domestic and...

Older patients 'treated with a lack of respect'.
March 30, 2006... standards By Liz Fox elizabeth.fox@rbi.co.uk Older people are treated with a lack of respect when admitted to hospital and often receive poor standards of care, a new report claims. Many are moved from one ward to another to...

'Contract not to blame'.(NHS)(The British Medical Association)(Brief article)
March 30, 2006... nhs debt The media and politicians are wrong to blame the consultant contract for the spiralling NHS debt, claims the BMA. In a statement, the organisation rebuts media claims that the contract is mostly to blame when unbudgeted...

letters.
March 30, 2006... GMC apology is not enough Sir, The letter of apology from Mr Findlay Scott, chief executive of the GMC ('GMC says sorry to doctors unfairly treated', 2 March, page 14), falls short. This is because Mr Scott does not seem to understand...

Private clinic doctor found guilty by GMC.(inappropriate and irresponsible prescribing)(General Medical Council)(Brief article)
March 30, 2006... private practice The founder of a private clinic for drug addicts has been found guilty of 'inappropriate and irresponsible' prescribing. Dr Colin Brewer, medical director of the Stapleford Centre, which runs clinics in London and...

Immigration rule will hit services.
March 30, 2006... By Liz Fox elizabeth.fox@rbi.co.uk The new immigration rules for overseas doctors could create major staffing problems in shortage specialties. Dr Ed Borman, chairman of the BMA's international committee, said overseas doctors...