Hospital Doctor articles from October 2006

Hospital Doctor archives from October 2006

Empty wards and promises.(United Kingdom National Health Service treatment centres struggle with reduced commissioning)
October 5, 2006... As Ravenscourt Park Hospital closes, Melanie Newman reports that other NHS treatment centres are struggling to survive in the face of reduced commissioning by primary care trusts and competition from the independent sector Ministers had...

* letters.
October 5, 2006... Confusion over MMC Sir, The front page headline in Hospital Doctor on the 14 September unfortunately only adds to the confusion around Modernising Medical Careers (MMC). The article indicates that there will be 443 fixed-term speciality...

Doctors' pay increase 'unlikely to exceed 2%'.
October 5, 2006... remuneration By Rob Finch rob.finch@rbi.co.uk Doctors should not expect a pay rise in real terms next year, Whitehall sources and health economists have suggested. The Government's inflation target is two per cent and Treasury...

GP skin clinics fail to cut cost or waits.
October 5, 2006... Decentralisation By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk GP dermatology clinics are more expensive than hospital outpatient sessions, do not improve care and can leng-then hospital waiting lists, a DoH briefing paper finds. ...

Training's first hurdle cleared.(United Kingdom Department of Health doubles the number of training positions)(Editorial)
October 5, 2006... editorial comment Hold the front page - we have some good news. The DoH has listened, for once, and doubled the number of training positions available in the run-through grade. There will now be between 17,000 and 18,000 run-through...

PCT to outsource [pounds sterling]10.5m of scans.
October 5, 2006... outsourcing A foundation trust will have to compete to provide more than [pounds sterling]10m of routine scans and tests after a primary care trust (PCT) decided to outsource the work. The move, by Rotherham PCT, is part of a wider...

Run-through posts double.(United Kingdom Department of Health rules)
October 5, 2006... By Liz Fox elizabeth.fox@rbi.co.uk The DoH has doubled the number of run-through posts available in August 2007 - but failed to quash doctors' demands to delay the introduction of specialty training by another year. Last week, the...

Redundant consultant 'may leave medicine'.
October 5, 2006... workforce The first consultant to be made redundant in recent years has said he may leave medicine. Gastroenterological surgeon Mr Simon Cole, who was made redundant by Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust on 19 September, said he was...

Losing faith in the future.
October 12, 2006... Hospital chaplaincy departments face losing 20 full-time positions, in addition to the loss of six out of seven chaplains proposed recently at Worcestershire Acute Hospital Trust. Peter Read reports on chaplains' changing role in the NHS, and...

Losing faith in the future.
October 12, 2006... Hospital chaplaincy departments face losing 20 full-time positions, in addition to the loss of six out of seven chaplains proposed recently at Worcestershire Acute Hospital Trust. Peter Read reports on chaplains' changing role in the NHS, and...

letters *.
October 12, 2006... Pension sums plainly wrong Sir, It was a relief to read the BMA's Dr Andrew Dearden finally stating unambiguously that the proposed increased pension contributions will be based on all pensionable pay rather than being applied, like tax,...

10% of trusts marked down on performance.(NHS trusts)(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... performance ratings One in ten NHS trusts have had their new performance ratings marked down after the Health-care Commission uncovered discrepancies between their self-assessment and information from other organisations. The...

Radical new rotas for weary juniors.
October 12, 2006... By Liz Fox elizabeth.fox@rbi.co.uk A revolutionary new rota system will reduce junior doctors' tiredness, maximise teaching and improve continuity of care, the Royal College of Physicians of London (RCP) has claimed. The three,...

Radical new rotas for weary juniors.
October 12, 2006... By Liz Fox elizabeth.fox@rbi.co.uk A revolutionary new rota system will reduce junior doctors' tiredness, maximise teaching and improve continuity of care, the Royal College of Physicians of London (RCP) has claimed. The three,...

Doctors need to reclaim NHS.(National Health Service)(Editorial)
October 12, 2006... editorial comment Four words, not three letters, describe the Tories' new health policy: more of the same. An 'independence bill' would take politicians out of the day-to-day running of the NHS. Private and voluntary sector...

Trusts planning to halt CEA payments.(clinical excellence awards)(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... clinical excellence awards A group of trusts is planning to halt payments of clinical excellence awards (CEAs) to consultants in a move condemned by the BMA. The proposal, which may affect up to 15 trusts, was made following a meeting...

Specialists threaten walkout on IT system.
October 12, 2006... choose and book By Lisa Hitchen lisa.hitchen@rbi.co.uk A group of hospital specialists could walk out on the Choose and Book (C&B) programme after claiming they were ignored and had their time wasted. The threat came after...

Private firms take cut of Welsh ops.
October 12, 2006... outsourcing By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Up to [pounds sterling]8m worth of elective surgery is being outsourced to the private sector in Wales, in a move that will provoke comparisons with England's independent...

No such thing as kindest cut.(downgrading of medical care services)
October 19, 2006... Hospitals across the country face closure of departments and downgrading of services. Liz Fox examines three areas likely to be affected by the cuts From Scarborough in the North-east to Penzance in the South-west, the battle lines...

* letters.
October 19, 2006... Keep the BMA out of politics Sir, What is the role of the BMA? I read the article 'Vision for the NHS' by BMA council chairman Mr James Johnson with a sinking heart and a feeling of frustration (28 September, page 21). Mr Johnson neatly...

Student debt rises above start salary.
October 26, 2006... medical students The BMA medical students committee is calling for greater financial support for undergraduates after new figures reveal their total average debt is [pounds sterling]1,000 more than their basic starting salary. In 2006,...

Practices get [pounds sterling]130 per referral to ISTC.
October 26, 2006... referrals By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk GP practices in Tameside are receiving payments of up to [pounds sterling]130 for referring patients to an independent sector treatment centre (ISTC), prompting concerns that...

SAS negotiators 'gave up on training rights'.(staff and associate specialist)
October 26, 2006... pay Deal By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk A former lead negotiator on the staff and associate specialist (SAS) contract has attacked the proposed deal from the BMA and NHS Employers. Associate specialist...

Advice spending up.
October 26, 2006... management consultants The DoH has paid almost [pounds sterling]10m to management consultants McKinsey & Co since April 2006. Of the [pounds sterling]9.964m paid to McKinsey so far this year, [pounds sterling]3.728m was for work undertaken...

4% pay demand doesn't add up.(doctors compensations)(Brief article)
October 26, 2006... editorial comment So the Government is demanding that doctors take a pay cut in 2007. They say doctors should be grateful for a below inflation 1.5 per cent increase. Any more would mean catastrophe - redundancy, mass medical unemployment...

DoH uses job threat to claw back on pay.(doctors not happy with United Kingdom Department of Health's recommended salary hikes )
October 26, 2006... By Melanie Newman melanie.newman@rbi.co.uk Pay rises higher than the 1.5 per cent recommended by the DoH may lead to redundancies, doctors have been warned. The Government has recommended the below-inflation increase in all NHS...

Lots in, how much out?(Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board)
October 26, 2006... One year on from its launch, how is the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) performing? Francesca Robinson assesses its impact and finds a mixed reaction It is just over a year since PMETB took on the job of overseeing...

* letters.
October 26, 2006... 'Radical' rota is an old idea Sir, While I applaud Prof Pounder and his team for their efforts in trying to reduce junior doctors' tiredness, maximise teaching and improve continuity of care, I feel their proposed radical new rota (12...