Doctor articles from April 2006

Doctor archives from April 2006

Bird flu pandemic could 'overwhelm' general practice.
April 4, 2006... Public health Neath GP and infectious disease specialist Dr Bryn John warns that a flu pandemic would swamp general practice and force the suspension of the GP contract. A flu pandemic was inevitable and GPs would face more than 1,000...

NICE tells GPs to do lifestyle checks.
April 4, 2006... Public health Joanna Wallis GPs should advise all smokers to quit when they attend for consultation and encourage inactive patients to do more exercise, says NICE in its first set of public health guidance. The institute said 'brief...

GPs slam 'mixed messages' on hospital closures.
April 4, 2006... White paper GP leaders have accused Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt of sending out 'mixed messages' over cottage hospital closures. 'Patricia Hewitt said she was putting a moratorium on closures. Whether she can prevent it happening...

Bowel screening launch curtailed.
April 4, 2006... Oncology The Government's own cancer screening tsar has contradicted ministers' insistence that the national bowel cancer screening programme will go ahead this month 'as planned'. Faecal occult blood (FOB) testing kits were due to...

GPs dealt virtual pay cut by Government.
April 4, 2006... Review Body's independence in question over 2.2% settlement Amena Saleem & Cathy Comerford The independence of the doctors' pay review body has been called into question following the announcement of below-inflation pay rises and a...

Contract is good for patients, says GPC.(general practitioners contracts in UK)(Brief article)
April 4, 2006... GMS GP leaders have fought back against criticism that GPs got too good a deal under the new GMS contract. Commentators have been quick to cite the contract as a contributory factor in the record overspends clocked up by PCTs in the...

Bioimpedance is 'better' test of fat.
April 4, 2006... Obesity A simple alternative to body mass index calculation could make body fat assessments easier and more accurate, say primary care researchers. Bioimpedance analysers send a small electrical current through the body - where lean...

Receptionists at sharp end.(medical practice receptionists dealing with patients)(Brief article)
April 4, 2006... Choose and Book Disgruntled practice receptionists could be yet another problem GPs face under Choose and Book. London GP Dr David Turner said receptionists were the 'forgotten group' in C&B and said they would be the ones left to...

Young diabetics need aggressive treatment.
April 4, 2006... Glycaemic control Adam Legge Younger patients with type 2 diabetes are much less likely to reach glycaemic control targets than those over 60, suggesting they might need to be treated more aggressively. Researchers analysed primary...

Clock is ticking for NHS, says BMA chief.
April 11, 2006... Funding The NHS has two years to save itself before the 7% per annum growth ends in 2008, BMA council chairman Mr James Johnson has warned. Bringing down unit costs by increasing patient throughput and splitting the Payment by Results...

DoH silent on pay for new child jabs.
April 11, 2006... June start for immunisation scheme 'impossible', warn GPs Adam Legge A JUNE start for the new childhood immunisation programme, including routine pneumococcal vaccination, is now impossible, warn GPs. The DoH still has no firm plans to...

GPs demand control over commissioning.
April 11, 2006... Cathy Comerford Practices that take on commissioning must be given more power as well as better financial incentives if the scheme is to work, GP leaders have warned. GPs will remain unmotivated to take on practice-based commissioning...

GPs 'should compile asthma risk register'.
April 11, 2006... QOF Adam Legge At-risk registers for asthma should be added to future versions of the quality and outcomes framework, if pilots are successful, say GPs. In a small UK study, keeping an at-risk register for asthma patients proved a...

Measles death is first in 14 years.
April 11, 2006... Immunisation A 13-year-old boy in Manchester has become the first person in the UK to die from measles in 14 years. The 13-year-old, who was from a travelling family, had not had the MMR vaccination and had been taking...

PCT sheds GPs to private firm.
April 11, 2006... APMS A PMS practice in Darlington staffed by salaried GPs has become the latest to be taken over by an alternative provider. The Park Gate Practice, which operates in an area of high deprivation, was put out to tender by Darlington PCT...

Passive smoking raises glucose intolerance risk.
April 11, 2006... Diabetes Passive smoking in non-smokers should be considered a new risk factor for glucose intolerance, according to US researchers. The CARDIA study looked at time to glucose intolerance over 15 years among 18- to 30-year-olds with no...

'Unify sessional GP system'.
April 11, 2006... Locums Sessional GPs will 'remain an untapped and valuable res-ource' without radical changes to the way they are organised, according to an RCGP report. It said that, rather than each PCT holding its own performer list, one central...

Under-fire Blair defends GPs.
April 25, 2006... Politics Prime Minister Tony Blair said last week that it was 'good' that UK GPs were the best paid in Europe. In recent speeches on NHS reforms, Mr Blair had repeatedly referred to the fact that UK GPs were now better paid than their...

NHS debts seal fate of flexible GP posts.(National Health Service negotiation on general practitioner roles)
April 25, 2006... Careers Amena Saleem GP Negotiators have admitted they will have to abandon some flexible working schemes in a bid to save others in the current NHS financial climate. Doctor has learnt that the GPC's education subcommittee has...

Framingham data to be corrected.
April 25, 2006... Screening A modification factor for Framingham risk scores, based on a practice's local population, is being developed for use in the national cardiovascular screening programme. Representatives from the National Screening Committee,...

PCTs failing to fund access to BNP tests.
April 25, 2006... Cardiology Adam Legge Only one-quarter of the GPs in England have access to a heart failure screening test recommended by NICE three years ago. Data from a survey of heart failure care in 210 PCTs are being presented at this week's...

Surprise as NICE backs inhaled insulin ban.
April 25, 2006... Diabetes GP diabetes specialists are divided over a surprise decision by NICE to all but ban the use of inhaled insulin. The agency's draft recommendation - currently out for consultation - says inhaled insulin (Exubera) should only be...

GPs attack 'bizarre' high-pay headlines.
April 25, 2006... 'We're just waiting for GPs to be blamed for the pension problems' Cathy Comerford GPs have rejected media claims that they are to blame for the NHS funding crisis, saying that they warned the Government the new contract would push...

Newer Cox-2s may pose same MI risks.
April 25, 2006... Prescribing An analysis of Cox-2 inhibitors suggests newer members of the class may have a similar cardiovascular risk to rofecoxib (Vioxx), which was withdrawn in 2004. Researchers looked at data on 3,643 UK patients with acute...