Doctor articles from May 2005

Doctor archives from May 2005

. . . and demand GMC overhaul.(Brief Article)
May 3, 2005... GPs at this year's LMCs conference will debate whether the GMC should be reformed and 'rebranded' to restore the profession's and the public's confidence in it. Manchester LMC is calling for a 'significant reforming and renaming' of the...

Angry GPs drive CaB ; to top of LMCs' agenda.(Choose and Book, Local Medical Committee)
May 3, 2005... GPs prepare to vent their frustrations over Choose and Book, PBC, funding and pensions at this year's LMCs conference Christina Golding GPs have set the agenda for the annual LMCs conference next month, with seven key topics set to...

NSF plays major role in reducing CHD risk.
May 3, 2005... CHD Steve Ford The national service framework for coronary heart disease has substantially improved risk factor recording and prevention, say researchers. The team, from Nottingham University's division of general practice, said the...

Access backlash after TV row.
May 3, 2005... Government takes a tough stance on 48-hour bookings after Blair embarrassed in live debate Doctor reporters The Government has signalled a tough line on GP access after the Prime Minister was embarrassed on national television over...

Practices left waiting for QOF cash.(Quality and Outcomes Framework)(Brief Article)
May 3, 2005... Remuneration DELAYS were hitting some practices as the deadline for PCOs to pay quality achievement cash arrived last week. While many GPs were celebrating last Friday, others were still waiting for the payments. Doctor revealed last month...

'Supplements of little use'.(Brief Article)
May 3, 2005... Geriatric fractures Calcium and vitamin D supplements do little to reduce primary or secondary fracture risk among elderly women who live in the community, according to two UK studies. One trial found no evidence that the supplements,...

Diazepam instalments for addicts.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2005... Prescribing GPs can now prescribe diazepam by instalment to substance misusers, following new amendments to the GMS contract. The regulations state that the period of treatment must not exceed 14 days and, when ordering, GPs must specify...

Colleges to draft new standards.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2005... New standards and guidance for doctors are to be drawn up by each of the royal colleges in a review by the GMC and the Academy of Royal Colleges. One possibility is the introduction of new 'actual serious impairment' indicators for each...

Deprivation 'no excuse' for poor; QOF results.(Quality and Outcomes Framework)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2005... Quality Working in a poor area is no reason to perform badly under the quality framework, but being single- or double-handed is, research suggests. Health bosses analysing QOF data for 540 practices in the West Midlands say deprivation...

New GP candidates fail to become MPs.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2005... General election GPs standing in last week's general election failed to win new seats, but did make impacts in their areas. Dr Wafik Moustafa, who stood as a Conservative candidate in Bootle, Merseyside, the constituency with the biggest...

Contract jackpot.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2005... GP earnings Robin Stride The average GP now earns [pounds sterling]110,000 per annum in profits after the new GMS contract's first year. Based on newly-released 2003-04 earnings, accountants forecast the average full-time equivalent...

GMC seeks to target 'high-risk' doctors.(General Medical Council )(Brief Article)
May 10, 2005... Council calls on CMO review to match new regulation with risk and joins colleges in plans to spot failing doctors quickly Cathy Comerford The GMC has called for a tiered system of regulation in which 'high-risk' doctors would face the...

GP super-group wins [pounds sterling]9m services contract.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2005... Specialist services Another group of GPs has formed a company to take on a wide range of specialist services. GPs, practice managers and nurses from 16 practices have become shareholders having invested a combined [pounds sterling]70,000...

GPC targets basic pay.(General Practitioners Committee)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2005... Funding Christina Golding GP leaders are likely to push the Government for more money for the GP baseline in the next round of negotiations rather than try to increase funding for enhanced services. Now the general election is over,...

Primary care teams mourn loss of local health visitors.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2005... Services Government schemes that remove health visitors from practices are destroying primary care teams and putting families at risk, GPs fear. Projects such as Sure Start have moved health visitors to central locations away from...

GMC targets solo GPs.(General Medical Council)(general practitioners)(Brief Article)
May 17, 2005... GMC Cathy Comerford THE GMC wants tighter regulation of single-handed and private doctors, including more stringent checks as part of their revalidation. GMC president Prof Sir Graeme Catto told Doctor that the council had changed its...

Prostate dilemma.(Brief Article)
May 17, 2005... Oncology If you're confused about whether to tackle prostate cancer aggressively or do some watchful waiting, don't worry, experts can't work it out either. Two long-term US studies have come to completely opposite conclusions on which is...

GPs set for more reforms.(general practitioners)(National Health Service reforms)(Brief Article)
May 17, 2005... Politics Further NHS reforms are on the way, with new Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt promising a white paper on primary care this year. Mrs Hewitt told a conference in Birmingham last Friday she intended involving GPs in the development...

Mumps epidemic.(Great Britain)(Brief Article)
May 17, 2005... Infectious diseases Mumps cases this year have nearly topped 30,000 already, with virologists now saying there is an epidemic. Figures reveal that 29,870 suspected cases of mumps were reported in England and Wales between 1 January and 6...

Complaints up 25 per cent.(complaints to the General Medical Council in Great Britian)(Brief Article)
May 17, 2005... Fitness to practise Complaints to the GMC have risen by 25 per cent on last year and the number of cases ongoing almost doubled despite efforts to streamline and speed up the system. The council is facing extra costs to cover the increase....

Deaths down.(2004 Death rates in England and Wales)(Brief Article)
May 17, 2005... Demographics Death rates in England and Wales are the lowest ever. Office for National Statistics figures show death rates in 2004 dropped by 5.4 per cent to 7,576 per million for men and by 5.5 per cent to 5,279 for women. There were...

Cardiac death drugs link.(Antibiotics erythromycin and clarithromycin; antipsychotics chlorpromazine, haloperidol and pimozide; gastrointestinal drugs cisapride and domperidone)(Brief Article)
May 17, 2005... Prescribing The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is to investigate new data linking sudden cardiac death risk with seven commonly prescribed drugs. The drugs involved are: Antibiotics erythromycin and clarithromycin;...

GPs told not to expect quick fix on workload.(general practitioners)
May 17, 2005... Contract pay increase is no match for work pressure worries Christina Golding GPs will continue to face workload problems for at least another year, with the GPC warning there is little chance of a slow down in that time. GPC chairman...

Trusts get tough on QOF pay.(quality and outcomes framework)
May 17, 2005... PCOs to set stricter quality and outcomes targets to save cash Anna Sayburn and Christina Golding GPs ARE bracing themselves for a much tougher time in achieving quality points this year because cash-strapped PCOs plan to 'crank up'...

Warner gets primary care remit.(Lord Norman Warner)(Great Britain, department of health)(Brief Article)
May 17, 2005... Department of Health Lord Norman Warner is taking over responsibility for GPs and primary care under the Department of Health's post-election re-shuffle. Lord Warner has been promoted to Minister of State for NHS delivery, taking over from...

Cost fear as GPs take on MRSA screening.(general practitioners)(methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus )
May 24, 2005... Services Paul Stephenson GPs could soon be expected to screen pre-operative patients for MRSA, but PCOs are already warning they don't have the money to pay for the work. A pilot scheme is to start this month in Norfolk, where...

BMA on offensive over sick notes.(British medical association)(Brief Article)
May 24, 2005... Services The BMA has written to Work and Pensions Secretary David Blunkett to express concerns about GPs assessing patients for incapacity benefit, ahead of a Government green paper being published in July. The paper, from the Department...

BP lower in mornings.(blood pressure)(Brief Article)
May 24, 2005... Hypertension Blood pressure readings taken during the morning and the summer are lower than at other times of day or season, say US researchers. The Pennsylvania team says readings can vary as much as 40 per cent and recommend that GPs...

Hewitt eyes primary care for more reform.(Health secretary Patricia Hewitt)(Brief Article)
May 24, 2005... Modernisation The next round of NHS reforms will focus on general practice, with England's new Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt last week announcing a public consultation on the future of primary care. Ms Hewitt said doctors and the public...

New vaccines to join childhood schedule.(Brief Article)
May 24, 2005... Immunisation Conjugate pneumococcal vaccine will be the next addition to the routine childhood vaccination schedule, according to a Health Protection Agency expert. This will probably be followed by a routine booster for haemophilus...

A2RA-diuretic combo backed in hypertension.(angiotensin 2 receptor blocker)
May 24, 2005... Prescribing An angiotensin 2 receptor blocker (A2RA) plus a diuretic is an effective combination for tackling hard-to-treat hypertension patients, including the elderly, a trial suggests. In the study, 736 hypertensive patients who failed...

Aspirin risks too high; for primary prevention.
May 24, 2005... Newest research undermines the polypill argument while clarifying treatment for resistant hypertension in elderly Steve Ford Aspirin should not be routinely given to people over 70 as primary prevention for cardiovascular disease,...

GPs lose thousands in global sum glitch.(general practitioners)(Brief Article)
May 24, 2005... Yet another error cuts up to [pounds sterling]20,000 off practices' payments Christina Golding Thousands of pounds have been wiped from practices' basic income because of a major error in the system used to calculate global sum...

Watchdog praise for LIFT.(Local improvement finance trust)
May 24, 2005... Premises The controversial private finance scheme NHS LIFT is working and will make life better for GPs, says the Government's spending watchdog. An overwhelmingly positive National Audit Office report on LIFT says it expects the scheme to...