Hospital Doctor articles from May 2005

Hospital Doctor archives from May 2005

Time for training.(training of junior doctors)
May 5, 2005... How much time consultants will spend assessing Modernising Medical Careers trainees is the subject of much debate, with estimates ranging widely, depending on whom you are talking to. Francesca Robinson reports The launch of the curriculum...

Letters .(Letter to the Editor)
May 5, 2005... College woke up too late Sir, So, junior surgeons' training is being severely affected by the Working Time Directive? How amazing! The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has succeeded in revealing the blindingly obvious, having failed to...

Another resignation hits IT scheme.(officials of Connecting for Health)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2005... technology The National Programme for IT (NPfIT), recently rebranded Connecting for Health, has suffered another high-profile resignation. The regional implementation director for the London cluster, David Kwo, resigned last week after he...

Apology for breach of confidence.(strategic health authority)(Levent Clinics Ltd)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2005... ethics A strategic health authority (SHA) has been forced to apologise on behalf of a private company performing NHS operations after it was accused of breaching patient confidentiality. Trent SHA passed letters of thanks it had received...

Paediatricians receive more legal protection.(opinions of Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health )(Brief Article)
May 5, 2005... paediatrics Parents wrongly accused of abusing their children cannot sue the doctors involved, the House of Lords has confirmed. The Lords upheld a Court of Appeal decision that doctors and other professionals involved in child protection...

Time to gather round the table.(Brief Article)(Editorial)
May 5, 2005... editorial comment Once the dust settles after the election, pensions are going to be at the top of the agenda for hospital doctors. Last month, the Government wisely extended the olive branch of talks when it realised public sector staff...

Few foundation trusts among top performers.(services of CHKS)(foundation status)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2005... modernisation Only four foundation trusts appear on a list of the UK's 40 top performing hospitals compiled by hospital benchmarking company CHKS. CHKS measured hospital performance in terms of clinical outcomes, efficiency and...

Trainees join pension fight.
May 5, 2005... By Emma Vere-Jones emma.vere.jones@@rbi.co.uk Trainees have joined the fray in opposing current pension proposals, with industrial action a possibility if changes are not made. Juniors will vote on whether to consider industrial action at the...

MMC fridge list leads to the cold shoulder.(Modernising Medical Careers (MMC))(Brief Article)
May 5, 2005... training It might seem like a good idea for an organisation to provide a handy list of target dates to be stuck up on fridge doors. But the idea backfired for the body re-organising junior doctors' training last week when it missed one....

Consultant physicians should see acutely ill.(National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death )(Brief Article)
May 5, 2005... working practices By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Consultants' reliance on junior doctors in managing the acutely ill may be contributing to patient deaths, a report warns. A National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome...

Tissue retention law 'will mean injustices'.
May 5, 2005... pathology By Emma Vere-Jones emma.vere.jones@rbi.co.uk Miscarriages of justice will occur because of changes to the coroners' rules relating to tissue retention, the Royal College of Pathologists has warned. As a result of the amendments,...

Ministering to the profession.(Brief Article)(Editorial)
May 12, 2005... editorial comment So, it's goodbye John, hello Patricia. But hold on to that sigh of relief. The face may be changing - as the 'attack dog' is redeployed to the real front line - but the policies are likely to remain the same. John Reid...

letters .(Letter to the Editor)
May 12, 2005... Waiting lists concern us all Sir, I find it hard to disagree with your headline 'You love waiting lists' (28 April, front page), and I am surprised at the hostile reaction Lord Warner seems to have evoked. Those with long waiting lists...

Call for protected training time.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... training Deaneries and the medical royal colleges came under attack last weekend from junior doctors, who accused the bodies of failing to protect training time. In a motion passed at the BMA's junior doctors' conference, delegates accused...

Patient safety at risk from poor night cover.
May 12, 2005... By Emma Vere-Jones emma.vere.jones@rbi.co.uk Poor implementation of the Hospital at Night programme is compromising patient safety, junior doctors say. Trainees are cross-covering specialties for which they don't have the necessary experience,...

Training; run.
May 12, 2005... Spending more time with the children or training to be a world-class athlete needn't mean putting career aspirations on hold in future, as Janis Smy discovers Flexible training for everyone who wants it - that is the vision for many junior...

Training board appoints new head.(Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board)(appointment of Peter Rubin as chairman )(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... pmetb Prof Peter Rubin has been appointed as the new chairman of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB). Prof Rubin is a professor of therapeutics at Nottingham University, an honorary consultant physician at the...

Trial counts costs of; training non-medics.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... surgery By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Training surgical care practitioners (SCPs) to do hernia operations is not cost effective, a pilot study shows. The results of an 18-month trial suggest non-medically qualified surgeons...

letters .
May 19, 2005... No entry via back door Sir, I was disappointed but not surprised to read that the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) has decided associate specialists will not have to pass exit exams before inclusion on the...

NHS jobs 'not for over 60s'.(National Health Service, pension)(Brief Article)
May 19, 2005... pensions Many NHS workers have jobs which are incompatible with working past 60, the chairman of the 'staff-side' team leading negotiations on the NHS pension has said. Eddie Saville, of the Society for Chiropodists and Podi-atrists, said:...

Quality under attack.
May 19, 2005... By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk A damning report has highlighted the lack of quality assurance in operations outsourced to the private sector. A catalogue of procedural errors and surgeons' suspensions emerged during an investigation...

Reforms 'will not increase grades'.(trust grade doctors)(Brief Article)
May 19, 2005... training Andrew Foster, the Depart-ment of Health's workforce director, has denied training reforms will cause an increase in the numbers of trust grade doctors. His views contradict those of doctors' leaders who suggest thousands will be...

Rule relaxed on private work.(specialties with surplus capacity)(Brief Article)
May 19, 2005... working practices The 'additionality' rule preventing doctors who have worked in the NHS in the last six months working for private providers is to be relaxed. NHS chief executive Sir Nigel Crisp said at a press briefing at the 'HR in the...

Surgeon & commander.(Richard Guy)
May 19, 2005... Recently retired from the Navy, Surgeon Commander Richard Guy talks to Janis Smy about a career which took him to Kosovo and Iraq, offered early surgical autonomy and allowed him to develop expertise in damage-control surgery As a...

Tough choices for a vocation.(occupational training)
May 19, 2005... editorial comment You could be forgiven for thinking that trainees want to have their cake and eat it. While it's laudable to want to strive for better terms and conditions, an eye has to be kept on the bigger picture. The Working Time...

Overhaul to clarify specialist register.(General Medical Council)(Brief Article)
May 19, 2005... GMC By Emma Vere-Jones emma.vere.jones@rbi.co.uk The GMC is to review the specialist register after declaring it not fit for purpose. The regulator is concerned that the register fails to give enough detail about consultants' practices...

Staff grade titles set for a revamp.(Staff and associate specialist (SAS) doctors)(staff grade name)
May 26, 2005... SAS doctors By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Staff and associate specialist (SAS) doctors are to get a name change, with associate specialists possibly being re-labelled 'associate consultants'. New names for the grades and...

Don't sell out patient safety.
May 26, 2005... editorial comment The Government is revving up the private sector juggernaut, and intends to drive it through the middle of the NHS. While the Department of Health recently trumpeted its [pounds sterling]3bn tendering of private sector...

Anger that MRI company sets own standards.(Alliance Medical is not registered with the Healthcare Commission)(Brief Article)
May 26, 2005... mri units Concerns have been raised about the lack of external quality control of Alliance Medical after it emerged the company is not registered with the Healthcare Commission. Alliance, which runs 12 mobile MRI units as well as a...

For our next five hundred years . . .(Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh )
May 26, 2005... As the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh celebrates its quincentenary, Francesca Robinson finds out from its president what the future holds The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd), which celebrates its quincentenary in...

ISTC medical director left over quality issue.(Netcare UK)(Independent Sector Treatment Centres )(Brief Article)
May 26, 2005... cataract operations The medical director responsible for cataract operations in mobile treatment centres run by a South African company resigned over concerns about quality of care. Dr Dinesh Verma was appointed medical director by Netcare...

NHS sale starts.(National Health Service)
May 26, 2005... concerns over safety as private sector juggernaut gathers pace By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Moves to allow private providers to take over management of NHS treatment centres have been criticised by doctors and health...

Surgeon claims non-registered doctor assisted.(Brief Article)
May 26, 2005... gmc registration A French orthopaedic surgeon sacked by Capio Healthcare UK claims he was assisted in NHS surgery by Capio's chief medical officer for Europe - who was not registered with the GMC. Mr Franck Lehrmann, who worked at the...

letters.(Letter to the Editor)
May 26, 2005... Lord Warner is out of touch Sir, I was disappointed but not surprised to read the headline (You love waiting lists, 28 April, front page). Health Minister Lord Warner is out of touch with what goes on in the NHS, particularly in district...