Doctor articles from August 2005

Doctor archives from August 2005

Private sector pilot to; take slice of GP lists.
August 9, 2005... Privatisation Paul Stephenson One of the first pilots under the Government's primary care privatisation push is set to take patients and resources from local practices. About 2,000 elderly patients in Plymouth, or five per cent of the...

Alert on complaints log-jam.(Brief Article)
August 9, 2005... Complaints A backlog of complaints is stacking up at the Healthcare Commission due to an overwhelming increase in cases. Health Service Ombudsman Ann Abraham said in her annual report she would continue to monitor the commission after...

One city finds a solution.(Leicester, England)(Brief Article)
August 9, 2005... In Leicester, PCT bosses have used a salaried GP scheme to solve their area's worsening recruitment problems. In 2003, Eastern Leicester PCT had 93 GPs, at least ten short of what was needed, with several older doctors close to retirement....

Registrars crisis hits GP manpower hopes.(general practitioners)
August 9, 2005... DoH curbs spending on training budgets to help PCTs, despite figures showing a drop in the number of GP registrars Cathy Comerford HOPES OF a sustained increase in GP manpower have been dealt a double blow with news of stagnation in...

Trainees turned away.(Brief Article)
August 9, 2005... As the Government admitted this week that it had cut growth in the NHS training budget to pay for the GMS contract, stories of out-of-work would-be GPs have been hitting national press headlines. No funding has yet been announced for this...

Leaders seek cash; incentives for PBC.(practice-based commissioning)
August 9, 2005... Push for ring-fenced budgets as Government fast-tracks plans Christina Golding GP leaders are trying to thrash out a pay deal with ministers good enough to convince practices to follow the Govern-ment's fast-track agenda for...

Safe to continue NSAID scrips.(Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents)(Brief Article)
August 9, 2005... Prescribing GPs should continue to prescribe NSAIDs as normal for the time being, a Europe-wide review of cardiovascular safety has concluded. The European Medicines Agency said there was insufficient evidence to warrant changing...

Change-weary GPs say hands off QOF.(quality and outcomes framework)(Brief Article)
August 23, 2005... Remuneration GPs and PCOs are telling the profession's leaders and the Government to step back from major changes to the GMS contract's quality and outcomes framework (QOF). GPC chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum said the practices and local...

Hewitt turns to; patient power.(Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt)(Department of Health to survey patients)(Brief Article)
August 23, 2005... Services The Department of Health is to ask 100,000 patients in England how they want GP services revamped. As part of its consultation on the white paper on primary care, due later this year, the department will ask the patients to...

Guidelines 'harm' elderly.(Brief Article)
August 23, 2005... Working practices Clinical guidelines offer little help to GPs treating older patients with multiple co-morbidities, a US review has concluded. Following standard guidelines for conditions may lead to an overly complicated drug regimen...

Most GPs stuck on protected income.
August 23, 2005... Meldrum warns Carr-Hill review needs 'significant' cash boost Doctor reporters The vast majority of GPs are likely to remain on protected income deals despite the forthcoming Carr-Hill formula review, warns the profession's lead...

Pharmacists force GPs to issue weekly scrips.
August 23, 2005... Prescribing Derren Hayes GPs aRE being left out of pocket because pharmacists are forcing them to write weekly prescriptions. Some GPs say they are being 'almost blackmailed' into writing weekly prescriptions by pharmacists who,...

Registrar assessment overhaul.(Brief Article)
August 23, 2005... GP EDUCATION leaders and the RCGP have launched a model to revamp GP training, as demanded by the new Post-graduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) A letter leaked to Doctor, sent last week to GP SHOs starting training this month,...

Stalemate ends over GP training budgets.
August 23, 2005... Deanery funding across England rises from [pounds sterling]3.26bn to [pounds sterling]3.5bn Doctor reporters The impasse over GP training budgets has been resolved, with funding and registrar numbers both up by about seven per cent...