Doctor articles from May 2007

Doctor archives from May 2007

GPs warned to reject 'jam tomorrow' deals.
May 1, 2007... funding Mark Pownall GPs have been warned not to go along with unorthodox accounting procedures, including taking delayed QOF payments, proposed by a cash-strapped PCT. Luton Teaching Primary Care Trust, which has a deficit of...

GPs' damning verdict on the Blair decade.
May 1, 2007... survey More than two-thirds of GPs questioned by Doctor believe general practice has deteriorated since Tony Blair came to power. The survey, which coincides with the tenth anniversary of Labour's 1997 general election win, also reveals...

Job mess to fuel exodus.(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... training THE Government's 'chronic mismanagement' of the NHS is driving thousands of doctors to work abroad, shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley has warned. He was opening a special debate on the Government's medical training...

Minister vetoes direct pay talks.
May 1, 2007... gp contract Mark Pownall Health minister Andy Burnham has insisted GP leaders must resume talks with NHS Employers over the GP contract. GP negotiators said last week they would no longer discuss pay with NHSE but would present...

'Consultations have held up IT reforms'.(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... technology Architects of the NHS IT programme have rejected suggestions that they did not fully engage doctors when planning the system, instead blaming the delays in implementation on consultations that took too long. Giving evidence...

NEWS.
May 1, 2007... Mark Pownall Thousands more GPs are taking salaried posts as traditional GP principal positions decline, latest figures on the NHS workforce have revealed. The figures reveal that about one in six GPs are now paid salaries by...

Antithrombotic use linked to stroke rise.
May 8, 2007... prescribing Adam Legge The massive rise in antithrombotic use has led to an unexpected and worrying increase in stroke deaths among the over-75s, suggests a UK study. Researchers at the Stroke Prevention Research Unit at Oxford University...

Bone drug cuts hip break risk by 40%.(Brief article)(Clinical report)
May 8, 2007... osteoporosis A once-yearly bisphosphonate cuts the risk of hip fracture by 41% after three years, new data show. Almost 4,000 women with osteoporosis were randomised to receive zoledronic acid or placebo as an annual 15-minute...

CVD scoring tools 'poor'.(Clinical report)
May 8, 2007... diabetes Accepted cardiovascular risk equations fail to accurately evaluate the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in people with type 2 diabetes, UK researchers warn. They used data from the UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) to...

Doctors 'still support industrial action'.
May 8, 2007... pay award Most doctors would still support industrial action in response to the 0% pay award as long as it did not affect patient care, according to a survey. The poll comes after the GPC announced no such national action was planned...

Poll expected to raise pressure over access.
May 8, 2007... Patient Survey Cathy Comerford The results of the DoH's Patient Experience Survey, due to be published this week, will deliver an 'overwhelmingly positive' verdict on the NHS, Tony Blair has said. But he suggested that they may also...

Research suggests benefit from TB screening.
May 8, 2007... tuberculosis Primary care screening for tuberculosis could be of benefit in areas of high prevalence, researchers say. The joint tuberculosis committee of the British Thoracic Society and other interested groups have been advocating the...

Ten years until record security.(Brief article)
May 8, 2007... technology Ensuring that information stored in electronic care records is secure and used properly could take a further ten years, according to a senior NHS adviser. Dr Gillian Braunold, joint national GP clinical lead for Connecting...

'Get competitive or go under'.
May 8, 2007... doctor conference Derren Hayes Longer opening hours, bidding to run neighbouring practices and leading practice- based commissioning (PBC) are just some of the measures all GPs must embrace if their practices are to survive and prosper....

Threat to bypass GPC in pay talks.
May 15, 2007... GP contract Cathy Comerford A senior Government pay negotiator has signalled that areas of general practice could be taken over by other providers following the breakdown of pay talks with the GPC. NHS Employers' finance director...

One practice in ten 'should be private'.
May 15, 2007... Privatisation AT LEAST 10% of practices need to be run by private providers if patients are to reap the benefits of commercial competition in primary care. This was the message given to GPs by the head of a private medical firm at a...

Patients say GP services have improved.
May 15, 2007... survey AN INDEPENDENT survey of patients' views on GP practices shows that 80% rated their overall satisfaction as very good or excellent. Results of the Improving Practice Questionnaire (IPQ) - a voluntary survey of more than one...

Intensive DMARDs 'good as anti-TNFs'.
May 15, 2007... rheumatoid arthritis Intensifying conventional rheumatoid arthritis drug treatments is as effective as switching patients to biologic therapies and costs far less, according to a review carried out for the Health Technology Assess-ment...

News.
May 15, 2007... Tsar cautions PCTs on referral schemes practice-based commissioning Derren Hayes The Government's primary care tsar has stepped into the row over PCTs' use of referral management schemes (RMS). Dr David Colin-Thom, national...

Co-proxamol ban hurting patients.
May 15, 2007... pain relief Adam Legge The ban on co-proxamol has significantly impaired many patients' ability to keep their pain under control, a review suggests. The drug's licence was withdrawn by the Medicines and Healthcare Products...

Hewitt tipped for Cabinet axe.(Patricia Hewitt)(Brief article)
May 15, 2007... government Cabinet insiders are predicting Patricia Hewitt will be axed as Health Secretary after Gordon Brown takes over as Prime Minister. And friends of the Chan-cellor say the Leicester West MP is likely to dropped from the Cabinet...

Budget delays stall PBC.
May 22, 2007... commissioning Cathy Comerford and Derren Hayes More than two-thirds of GPs did not agree a budget for practice-based commissioning (PBC) last year and more than half still do not know what their budget will be, almost two months into this...

CHD risk assessments come high on DoH wish list.
May 22, 2007... investment The government has indicated its priorities for the NHS over the next few years by announcing a raft of local pilot projects in which it will invest money. Of particular interest to GPs is the [pounds sterling]6m scheme...

Call to minimise aspirin dose for CVD.
May 22, 2007... prescribing Doctors must minimise the dose of aspirin used for cardiovascular disease prevention, US researchers have urged. After conducting a review of the literature on relationships between aspirin dosage, efficacy and safety, they...

Extra year for access and C&B DESs.(Choose and Book directed enhanced services)(Brief article)
May 22, 2007... enhanced services The Access and choice and booking directed enhanced services (DESs) will continue unchanged for another year, after a deal was struck between GP leaders and the DoH. The move will see the patient access questionnaire...

Minister hints at abolition of MPIG.
May 22, 2007... Remuneration The Government has given its strongest indication yet that it wants to directly link GPs' pay to practice opening times and the range of services provided. Transferring money from the minimum practice income guarantee...

Discharges 'botched'.(Brief article)
May 22, 2007... survey Almost half of patients are discharged from hospital with no information about the side-effects of their medication, a survey by the Healthcare Commission has shown. RCGP chairman Prof Mayur Lakhani is calling for strong action...

GPs hit back at charge of profligacy.
May 22, 2007... prescribing Adam Legge GPs have branded a report on their prescribing by the Government's spending watchdog as 'flawed and poorly researched'. The 'value for money' report published by the National Audit Office (NAO)...

PCTs dock practice payments by 20%.
May 22, 2007... Accounting Robin Stride GPs are being shortchanged by tens of thousands of pounds as PCTs top-slice 20% off their fees. Accountants have warned that as many as one in ten practices could be victims of trusts' mishandling of...

Apnoea raises diabetes risk.
May 29, 2007... Sleep disorders Sleep apnoea increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes even after adjusting for obesity, say US researchers. They followed 593 patients referred for sleep-disordered breathing for six years and found that those...

E-nose to sniff out asthma.
May 29, 2007... Diagnosis An 'electronic nose' could become the definitive diagnostic tool for asthma in primary care, say Dutch researchers. Electronic devices that detect chemical particles in the air are already used in the food industry and to detect...

GMC fast-tracks civil proof.(General Medical Council)
May 29, 2007... Fitness to practise Cathy Comerford The GMC is pushing for a switch to the civil standard of proof in fitness-to-practise cases by the end of this year. It wants to fast-track the change so it could be in use by April 2008. The council...

Loss-lead ploy 'will keep GPs out of market'.
May 29, 2007... Private providers GPs will struggle to win back work given to the private sector because of commercial companies' ability to run contracts at a loss, financial specialists are warning. Kathie Applebee, a partner at Cornwall-based...

NICE prioritises child fever.
May 29, 2007... Guidelines Paola Accalai GPs must establish exactly how ill a feverish child is before searching for a diagnosis, specialists have urged. Last week, NICE issued the first UK guidance on assessment and initial management of feverish illness...

Treatment 'as needed' urged in mild asthma.
May 29, 2007... respiratory disease Adam Legge Patients with mild asthma who use a combined beclometasone/salbutamol inhaler as needed are able to achieve similar levels of control as those who use regular, twice-daily inhaled steroids suggests new...

Warning on police tip-offs.(Brief article)
May 29, 2007... violent patients GP leaders have warned ministers against plans to require doctors to tip off police about patients they suspect could commit a violent crime. The plans, which were leaked to a national newspaper last week, could...