Doctor articles from June 2004

Doctor archives from June 2004

Recruitment drive's false start before it starts.(GP Recruitment Day)
June 3, 2004... Doctor reporters Enticing GPs to work in a new area is not the easiest job at the best of times. However, a recruitment drive in the Midlands failed more spectacularly than most because the only doctors interested in attending already work...

Shipman Inquiry forces delay to complaints review.(Brief Article)
June 3, 2004... Long-awaited reforms of the NHS complaints procedures have been delayed after the Shipman Inquiry asked the Government to wait until after its final report. The Government promised changes to the system - which has been criticised for being...

GPs fight to relax planning laws for premises schemes.(general practitioners)
June 3, 2004... Christina Golding A councillor is calling for a change in national planning laws to help GPs expand their premises on greenfield sites. Dover District Council leader Paul Watkins wants the Government to make provisions for GPs who need...

'Lower threshold for osteoporosis therapy'.
June 3, 2004... Steve Ford GPs SHOULD lower their threshold for treating women for osteoporosis to prevent fractures, according to research. Findings from a large US trial (see panel) suggest many women with T scores between -2.5 and -1 are at high risk...

GPs win deal on hospital pay.(general practitioners)(Brief Article)
June 3, 2004... Rachel Solotti A deal is in sight for GPs working in community hospitals in Wales, but the rest of the UK continues to lag behind. The Welsh GPC has submitted a proposed framework - which outlines a pricing structure and terms and...

MPs demand Government takes action on obesity.
June 3, 2004... Steve Ford MPs HAVE demanded more support and initiatives for GPs as part of a radical plan to tackle obesity. The Commons Health Committee also wants GPs to measure and record overweight patients, but slates the new GMS contract for...

GP leaders urge formal disputes over global sums.(general practitioners)(Brief Article)
June 3, 2004... Christina Golding GP leaders have told practices to include a caveat when signing off global sum agreements while they check Government calculations that have slashed thousands of pounds from GPs' budgets. The GPC is going into national...

GPs' NHS income breaks six-figure mark.(general practitioners, National Health Service)(Brief Article)
June 3, 2004... EXCLUSIVE GPs' NHS payments broke through the six-figure barrier for the first time in the last year of the old contract. Accountants' profiles of doctors' earnings in the 12 months to the end of March 2004 show average whole-time...

Don't believe all you read in the journals.(errors in Scientific journals)(Brief Article)
June 3, 2004... Disraeli was right all along: GPs wanting to practise evidence-based medicine should add a grain of salt to many findings reported in journals, say Spanish researchers. They say a quarter of BMJ articles and 38 per cent of papers in Nature...

GPs may be forced to use nurse chaperones.(general practitioners)
June 3, 2004... Inquiry expected to call for 'qualified health care professionals' to oversee doctors performing intimate patient examinations Cathy Comerford EXCLUSIVE GPs Will have to employ practice nurses and other health professionals as...

'No link' between ethnicity and heart care standards.
June 10, 2004... Steve Ford Two new studies challenge evidence that patients of south Asian origin receive a lower standard of heart disease care from GPs than others. Researchers in London found practices with a higher proportion of south Asian patients...

Alternative medicines put warfarin patients at risk.(Brief Article)
June 10, 2004... Steve Ford GPs prescribing warfarin should ask patients if they are taking herbal medicines, warn researchers. A survey of patients taking the anticoagulant found many were also taking herbal remedies that are thought to interact with it...

A&E feels the heat as GPs withdraw unpaid enhanced services.(Accident & Emergency, general practitioners)
June 10, 2004... Christina Golding A&E departments are showing the first signs of strain as a direct result of GPs refusing to continue providing enhanced services unpaid. Hospitals have reported a surge in A&E attendance in the past few weeks, and...

GPs face battle to secure full; superannuation reimbursement.(general practitioners)
June 10, 2004... Christina Golding Accountants have warned GPs to prepare for a fight to get full reimbursement for superannuation payments next year because PCOs are using historical data to work out their budgets. PCOs are likely to find themselves short...

Salaried posts 'exploit women'.
June 10, 2004... Rachel Solotti Female GPs are at risk of being exploited under the new GMS contract because the number of salaried posts is likely to increase, says the Medical Women's Federation's new honorary secretary. Sussex GP Dr Clarissa Fabre, who took...

GPs hit by staff funding chaos.(general practitioners)(Brief Article)
June 10, 2004... Simon Meek PRACTICES ARE having to postpone making crucial staffing decisions as accountants struggle to decipher funding allocations under the new contract. The extra workload surgeries now have to contend with - administrative tasks...

Patient referral options spark fears; of 'massive' rise in GP workload.(general practitioners)
June 10, 2004... Doctor reporters GP representatives fear new referral options for patients will massively increase workload and unfairly raise patient expectations. Moves to allow patients to choose which hospital to attend and which consultant to see are...

Health Committee to look at PCOs' OOH provision.(Physician Contracting Organization, out-of-hours)(Brief Article)
June 10, 2004... A PARLIAMENTARY watchdog is to examine how the new GMS contract is likely to affect out-of-hours services. The Commons' Health Committee is to begin an inquiry this month into what impact PCOs taking over out-of-hours responsibility will have...

Statins cut heart risk in type 2 diabetics.(Brief Article)
June 10, 2004... Landmark trial findings back advice to give statins to type 2 diabetic patients, regardless of their cholesterol level. The Collaborative Atorvastatin Diabetes Study, halted early last year because the data was so positive, reported in full at...

GMS backlash.(General Medical Services' contract under criticism)
June 10, 2004... * GPs hit out at new contract's failure to meet core objectives * Negotiators preparing to face angry LMCs conference Christina Golding and Simon Meek GPs ARE gearing up to deliver a major backlash against the contract at next week's LMC...

GPs lose contract cash to rebadged secondary care.(general practitioner)(Brief Article)
June 17, 2004... Simon Meek GPs are are stuck in last-minute funding rows because PCTs want to spend enhanced services cash in secondary care. Many PCTs want to use GMS money to fund secondary care services, justifying the action by saying GPs are involved in...

Chaperones 'unworkable'.
June 17, 2004... Cathy Comerford A requirement for GPs to use nurse chaperones for intimate examinations would be ineffective as well as unworkable, say leading doctors and nurses. Sara Richards, vice-chairman of the Royal College of Nursing's Practice...

GP awaits fate over patients' undressing.(general practitioner Julian Selwyn )(Brief Article)
June 17, 2004... A GP who asked a patient to remove her clothes without offering a chaperone is waiting for the GMC to decide his fate. Locum GP Dr Julian Selwyn has admitted he did not offer a chaperone. The GMC has heard the case in private and has to decide...

Prostatectomy best for younger cancer patients.
June 17, 2004... DOCTORS SHOULD consider radical prostatectomy for younger prostate cancer patients, despite the substantial side-effects, say researchers. A Swedish team found the probability of early-stage, initially untreated prostate cancer progressing to...

GP training call; over chlamydia cash call to raise GP awareness.(general practitioners)(Brief Article)
June 17, 2004... Steve Ford Funding must be made available to boost chlamydia awareness among GPs, says the Health Protection Agency. HPA researchers warn that widely varying GP attitudes to testing for the disease could be a barrier to the national...

GP sues PCT for giving GMC 'false' information.(Gabriele Cola, primary care trusts, General Practitioners Committee)(Brief Article)
June 17, 2004... A GP is taking his PCT to court this week to make it withdraw 'false' information it gave about him to the GMC. Dr Gabriele Cola, who was suspended from his salaried post in a Norbury practice last June and faces a GMC hearing this month, has...

GPs turn ; to LMC alternative.(general practitioners' political aspects)(Brief Article)
June 17, 2004... A crisis of confidence in one LMC has resulted in the formation of a breakaway group claiming to represent GPs. The PMS Consortium represents 16 PMS practices in Sunderland, all of which have questioned their LMC's ability to represent them....

LMC gives in to PCT 'bullies'.(primary care trusts)(Brief Article)
June 17, 2004... A row has broken out in Luton over whether GPs should continue to provide enhanced services for free as the LMC and PCO struggle to forge a deal. GPs have criticised Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire LMC's handling of enhanced services...

'Ineffective' LMCs failing; to protect GPs' interests.
June 17, 2004... GPs complain that committees lack power as report questions performance Doctor reporters GPs are badly protected under the new contract because LMCs are 'ineffective' and provide 'precarious' support, say doctors and academics. In a...

GPs to trade unpaid work.(general practitioners)(Brief Article)
June 24, 2004... Simon Meek GPs are preparing to trade free services for shorter opening hours. Leeds LMC is talking to its five PCTs about the initiative, which would see the start time for out-of-hours set at 6pm instead of 6.30pm, as stated in the new...

GPs left in limbo as PCTs scramble to set up appeals.(general practitioners, primary care trusts)
June 24, 2004... Simon Meek GPs have been left confused because PCTs are rushing to set up formal disputes procedures. GPs are set to appeal their latest global sum figures, and the GPC is encouraging them to act, as Doctor reported earlier this month. But a...

GPC told to check service agreements.(General Practitioners Council)
June 24, 2004... Simon Meek The GPC has been instructed to formally review and comment on every PCO's enhanced services spending plans, despite objections from negotiators. Last week's LMCs conference ordered the negotiating team to double-check all agreements...

LMCs drop contract challenges.(local medical centers)(Brief Article)
June 24, 2004... Christina Golding LMCs representatives have backed down from demanding the new contract be completely renegotiated. At last week's LMCs conference, the expected backlash against almost every aspect of the new contract fizzled out when...

Breast cancer risk ruling.(Brief Article)
June 24, 2004... Moderate risk likely if: * One first-degree relative diagnosed before age 40 * One first-degree relative and one second-degree relative diagnosed over average age 50 * Two first-degree relatives diagnosed over average age 50 High risk likely...

Chisholm hangs; up his GPC boots.(General practitioners Council's John Chisholm resigning )(Brief Article)
June 24, 2004... The leader of the team that brought GPs the new contract is quitting, and successors will lose their negotiating role. GPC chairman Dr John Chisholm announced his resignation at the LMCs conference, saying he would stand down when the GPC...

Demands; for uplift; in contract; global sum.(Brief Article)
June 24, 2004... The GPC has been told to urgently renegotiate the new contract's global sum to reflect the true cost of providing essential and additional services. LMC members from Buckinghamshire and Glou-cestershire told last week's LMCs conference that...

Fudge on core; services 'leaves GPs helpless'.(general practitioner)
June 24, 2004... 'Farce' as leaders fail to define essential services Simon Meek and Christina Golding GPs HAVE accused the GPC of leaving them powerless to stand up to PCOs after negotiators admitted they could not define practices' core services....

LMCs struggling to agree funding.(local medical centers)(Brief Article)
June 24, 2004... LMCs WARN that they will probably fail to get enhanced services spending floor agreements with PCOs by next week's deadline. Few PCOs have tied up agree-ments or let LMCs know the budgets they intend operating. Dr Tony Stanton, London-wide LMCs...

Shipman expert calls for less trust among doctors.
June 24, 2004... Cathy Comerford The Government's expert on Shipman is calling for GPs to take responsibility for the killer's legacy and question their trust in each other. In a paper, Prof Richard Baker said GPs had to be seen to take some responsibility...