Hospital Doctor articles from October 2005

Hospital Doctor archives from October 2005

Are US-style assistants needed?
October 6, 2005... The Department of Health is trumpeting US-style physician assistants as the answer to medical staffing problems in the UK, but will doctors be so keen on them? Francesca Robinson reports on a new breed of health care practitioner ...

Plan to limit pay rises to 2.5 per cent.
October 6, 2005... Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Doctors' pay should rise by no more than 2.5 per cent in the April 2006 salary review, the body in charge of NHS pay negotiations has recommended. The evidence to pay review bodies has outraged doctors'...

Long hours set to spark mass consultant exodus.
October 6, 2005... workforce By Emma Vere-Jones emma.vere.jones@rbi.co.uk The NHS is facing a large-scale exit of senior consultant physicians, in part because they are having to work on average around 15 hours longer than they are contracted to. The latest...

ISTC threatens teaching unit.
October 6, 2005... training A flagship teaching unit is facing loss of approval to train juniors because most of its simplest cases are being creamed off by the private sector. A confidential report, seen by Hospital Doctor, says the orthopaedic casemix at...

Bosses may get revalidation role.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... regulation Employers may play a key role in assessing the practice of doctors deemed most likely to put patients at risk, under new plans for revalidation. A source close to the Chief Medical Officer's review of revalidation said doctors...

Doctors just want respect.
October 6, 2005... editorial comment I recently met a couple who are partners in a City law firm and committed to their work. It was subsequently revealed, rather indiscreetly, that these 35-year-olds jointly earn more than [pounds sterling]800,000 per...

Private outcomes data 'misleading'.
October 6, 2005... Quality By Anna Barlow hospital.doctor@rbi.co.uk A report which shows that patients treated in the independent sector recover better than those treated by the NHS is misleading, experts have said. The second annual report from the National...

letters.
October 6, 2005... Look beyond ISTC dogma Sir, The report of 'wave two' private sector transfers in Hospital Doctor makes unpleasant but vital reading (Wider range of services to go private, 22 September, page 1). Ophthalmologists have found themselves in...

Stepping out into the open.
October 20, 2005... Emerging from the shadows, recently appointed Royal College of Surgeons of England president Mr Bernie Ribeiro has lost no time in rolling up his sleeves and getting stuck into the political hot potatoes of the day. Melanie Newman reports ...

DoH pays out over [pounds sterling]900K in race case.(Department of Health)(Brief Article)
October 20, 2005... race discrimination Nine overseas doctors have each won six-figure sums after their race discrimination claim against the Department of Health (DoH) settled out of court. The doctors, two of whom are from Wales and the rest from England,...

Private control for primary care trusts.
October 20, 2005... privatisation By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Primary care trusts (PCTs) in Oxfordshire may be managed by a private company, after Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority (SHA) said it would put the role out to tender. For the...

Pension U-turn just the start.
October 20, 2005... editorial comment As Hospital Doctor went to press, the Public Sector Forum announced that the pensions of all doctors currently in the NHS will be protected and they will be able to retire at 60. This a huge victory for the profession and...

letters.
October 20, 2005... Assistants are fine . . . Sir, Your article Are US-style assistants needed? (6 October, page 22) comes across to some of us as a breath of fresh air. Physician Assistants have been practising in the US for some time and work side by side...

Appeal for doctors in earthquake zone.
October 20, 2005... earthquake in pakistan By Anna Barlow hospital.doctor@rbi.co.uk Surgeons are desperately needed in Pakistan as thousands of injured people are still waiting for treatment, say UK doctors who have flown into the earthquake-hit zone. There...

Pension U-turn signals victory for profession.
October 20, 2005... By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk The Government performed a massive U-turn this week by protecting the pensions of all current NHS doctors, enabling them to retire at 60. Union and government representatives at the Public Sector Forum...

PCTs set to cap referrals.(primary care trusts)(Brief Article)
October 20, 2005... primary care Cash-strapped primary care trusts (PCTs) are looking to cap the number of referrals to hospital trusts, in a move that threatens patient care and hospital departments. Berkshire PCTs now plan to limit referrals to Heatherwood...

Drive to primary care cuts service.
October 27, 2005... services By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Orthopaedic consultants at west London hospitals have been told they cannot carry out certain procedures, as the drive to remove services from secondary care is stepped up. Hillingdon...

letters .
October 27, 2005... Politics is not doctors' job Sir, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt is mistaken (Health Secretary wants doctors to get involved, 13 October, front page). It is not the job of clinicians to make the NHS reforms work. We did not ask for...

Training body disbands SAS group 'prematurely'.
October 27, 2005... SAS doctors By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk The new training body is breaking up its sub-committee in charge of applications by staff and associate specialist (SAS) doctors to the specialist register before assessment criteria...

Making the team.
October 27, 2005... With London hosting the Olympics, this year's Power 50 focuses on who are the front-runners for team NHS (plc) in 2012. A year ago, few would have believed how radical the changes to the way health care is delivered would be. Private health...

Quick poll may change policy.(Editorial)
October 27, 2005... editorial comment Backed by a sizeable majority, this Government has been characterised by an unwavering determination over the past eight years to see its reform agenda implemented. The Department of Health (DoH), however, is suddenly...

PCT sells off eye operations.
October 27, 2005... outsourcing A cash-strapped Oxfordshire trust has been forced to sell off, at a loss, an underutilised contract for cataract operations from a private company. Cherwell Vale Primary Care Trust (PCT) commissioned South African company...

Fears over US-style care plans.(Brief Article)
October 27, 2005... private work BUPA Insurance is developing clinical care plans for hospitals, raising fears it is introducing US-style managed care based on an Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO) model. The plans will include protocols on clinical...

Leaders told to get tough on reforms.
October 27, 2005... By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Doctors' representatives are being urged to intensify their lobbying following concessions on health policy by the Department of Health (DoH). Angry MPs hit out in a Commons debate last week, forcing...