Doctor articles from June 2007

Doctor archives from June 2007

DoH: Tendering is unfair.(Department of Health)
June 5, 2007... service provision Cathy Comerford Private providers do have the upper hand in bidding for primary care services, a senior official in the DoH's commercial directorate has admitted. Speaking at a London conference, on the department's...

GP hours lead to bad press, says Johnson.
June 5, 2007... medico-politics Derren Hayes practice opening times, and not pay, are at the nub of current anti-GP publicity, says former BMA chairman Mr James Johnson. The DoH has been accused of orchestrating an anti-GP campaign, with a number...

GPs angry as [pounds sterling]500m is unused.
June 5, 2007... Funding GPs have expressed their outrage at the news that the NHS is set for a [pounds sterling]500m underspend for 2006-07. Trusts were put under pressure to make savings by Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt after a [pounds...

Pharmacists 'will be key to filling primary care gaps'.
June 5, 2007... services Pharmacists could be used more to take up the slack in primary care, according to primary care tsar Dr David Colin-Thom. Dr Colin-Thom's comments at a conference in London last week come weeks after Doctor reported that NHS...

Report backs switch to insulin for type 2.
June 5, 2007... diabetes Adam Legge Many Type 2 diabetes patients are still not being treated intensively enough and would benefit from being switched to insulin, according to ten-year data from 154 UK practices. Researchers at the University of...

Tighter checks urged for nurse telephone triage.
June 5, 2007... nurse triage Telephone triage by nurses in general practice is frequently inaccurate and may have 'potentially severe' consequences for patients, Dutch researchers have warned. They asked five people to call triage nurses in four general...

Varenicline OK - with backup.
June 5, 2007... Smoking cessation GPs should offer varenicline to help with smoking cessation, says NICE, but only alongside behavioural therapies. NICE last week recommended varenicline as an option for smoking cessation in its final draft appraisal. But...

A profession divided.
June 12, 2007... exclusive SURVEY Cathy Comerford Government reforms are driving a wedge between GPs and consultants, according to a landmark survey Almost half of doctors think working relationships have deteriorated over the past five years and 64% said...

New call for hep B jabs.
June 12, 2007... Vaccination Paola Accalai GPs and specialists have renewed calls for the introduction of universal hepatitis B vaccination in the UK, in light of increasing world travel and immigration. The UK's strategy of vaccinating at-risk groups is...

NHS premises report blasted as unrealistic.
June 12, 2007... Building Development Doctors' leaders have criticised the Government's record on primary care premises, saying that GPs have been 'starved' of practice development money over the past decade. The attack followed publication of a DoH...

Seniors vote to fight self-regulation plans.
June 12, 2007... Consultants conference Senior Hospital doctors have voted to take industrial action if the Government goes ahead with its proposals on medical regulation. A motion passed at the BMA consultants' conference in London last week called on...

'Economy' statin switch raises post-MI mortality.
June 12, 2007... rationing Adam Legge A financially motivated switch from atorvastatin to simvastatin is causing deaths in post-MI patients, according to data from a study presented at last week's British Cardiovascular Society meeting. Researchers from...

GPs fire a warning at GMC.
June 19, 2007... lmcs conference, institute of education, london, 14-15 june GMC reforms took a battering from LMC members, who called to retain criminal rather than civil standards of proof in fitness to practise cases. They also passed a reference to...

LMCs wary over industrial action.(Local Medical Committee)(Brief article)
June 19, 2007... lmcs conference, institute of education, london, 14-15 june Derren Hayes LMC members have hit out at the Government's handling of GP pay negotiations, but stopped short of backing industrial action. But they did back a motion calling for...

No confidence in Hewitt.
June 19, 2007... lmcs conference, institute of education, london, 14-15 june Cathy Comerford GPs passed an almost unanimous vote of no confidence in Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt and in the Govern-ment's handling of the health service. Calling...

No wait needed in swap to abatacept.
June 19, 2007... Arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis patients who do not respond to anti-TNF drugs do not need a washout period before starting on the new biologic abatacept (Orencia), research shows. The data was presented at the Eighth Annual European...

Scornful Meldrum draws line in sand.
June 19, 2007... POlitics Derren Hayes GPC chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum has launched a stinging attack on the Government's mishandling of the NHS and general practice. In a wide-ranging and passionate speech, Dr Meldrum also warned Prime Minister-in-waiting...

BMA leaders face a tough time at ARM.
June 26, 2007... conference BMA leaders look set for a rough ride from rank-and-file doctors at this week's Annual Representative Meeting, according to the results of a new survey. In a poll by Onmedica.net, the online information provider for health...

Confusion over HPV jabs.
June 26, 2007... immunisation Adam Legge There is widespread confusion over who will carry out next year's human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) campaign in teenage girls. Last week the DoH agreed 'in principle' with the Joint Committee on...

Duplex diagnosis first choice for PAD.
June 26, 2007... Imaging Duplex ultrasound is safe, cheap and accurate enough to diagnose most cases of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), according to a Health Technology Assessment Programme review. The review compared the diagnostic accuracy of duplex...

GPs 'will be fined' for scrip failures.(Interview)
June 26, 2007... Prescribing Derren Hayes A PCT plans to 'fine' GP practices that fail to meet local prescribing targets in what doctors' leaders fear could be the start of a new cost-cutting drive. In what is thought to be the first example of...

Instinct catches infant infections.
June 26, 2007... Diagnosis The gut feeling that 'something is wrong' is revealed as the strongest predictor of serious infection among children in primary care consultations, according to Belgian researchers. They assessed the signs and symptoms related to...

New pay freeze threat.(Brief article)
June 26, 2007... scotland Scottish GP leaders could clash over next year's pay deal if Scotland's new Government follows the advice of a spending review. The Howat Report, unveiled by the new SNP-led Parliament after the previous administration refused to...

Now listen to us, Gordon.
June 26, 2007... exclusive SURVEY Cathy Comerford Doctors are sending an uncompromising message to Gordon Brown for his first days in office: you are killing the NHS. Almost three-quarters of doctors believe reforms imposed by this Government could see the...

Smartcard glitch leaves GPs logged off.
June 26, 2007... Technology GPs across England were unable to use the NHS computer system for several days last week because of a technical glitch. In some areas, dozens of GPs could not log on to the system or access the NHS spine - the virtual space...

Smoking GPs still can't quit.
June 26, 2007... Health promotion Just days before smoking becomes banned in public places in England, a new survey has revealed that more than 2,000 GPs are still addicted to the habit. Research done on behalf of Lloydspharmacy shows that almost 2,100...