Doctor articles from October 2006

Doctor archives from October 2006

GPs improve their QOF scores by 5%.
October 3, 2006... Three-GP practice with 6,000 patients should earn [pounds sterling]125,900 Cathy Comerford GPs in England are delivering even better care than last year. Quality and outcomes framework (QOF) scores for 2005-06, published last week,...

Rise in hypertension and diabetes rates.
October 3, 2006... QOF Steve Ford The prevalence of hyper-tension and diabetes has increased over the past year, suggest latest figures from the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) for England. QOF scores for 2005-06 published last week show diabetes...

GMC revamp 'will spark GP resignations'.
October 3, 2006... Regulation GP leaders have warned that proposals to change how doctors are regulated, if implemented, would push older doctors to resign and cause major workforce problems. The BMA is preparing its official response to Chief Medical...

Accenture pulls out of national IT plan.
October 3, 2006... Technology Cathy Comerford The Government's IT plan for the NHS suffered a further blow last week when one of the main contractors announced that it was pulling out. NHS Connecting for Health (CfH) confirmed that Accenture, one of...

GPs 'favour the rich and sexy'.(Clinical report)
October 3, 2006... Consultations GPs are more likely to treat patients they perceive as attractive, which in turn tend to be those who are more affluent, claim researchers. Study author Dr Dermot O'Reilly, of the general practice department at Queen's...

Cameron vows to save NHS.(David Cameron, United Kingdom National Health Service)(Brief article)
October 10, 2006... Politics Tory leader David Cameron publicly promised to put the NHS at the top of the political agenda in his keynote speech at the Conservative Party conference in Bournemouth. He also pledged to stop endless reorganisation in the...

Training budget cuts block GP returners.
October 10, 2006... Training Cathy Comerford Cuts to training budgets have left hundreds of experienced GPs unable to work in general practice, GP leaders claim. GPC chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum said the Government was employing doctors from eastern Europe...

Private firms extend primary care reach.
October 10, 2006... Doctor carries out first in-depth probe into state of privatisation Amena Saleem Nearly 40 GP practices across England are being managed by private companies, according to research carried out by Doctor. The biggest cluster is in...

GP's fears to be raised in House.
October 10, 2006... Regulation A GP's concerns about the lack of regulation of nursing practitioners are to be raised in Parliament. Dr Anila Reddy resigned from a privately run NHS walk-in centre in east London over concerns that patients were being put...

GPs face curbs on osteoporosis drugs.
October 10, 2006... Prescribing Paola Accalai GPs should only prescribe bisphosphonates to women at risk of developing osteoporosis if they are aged over 75, according to latest proposals from NICE. The institute last week published draft technology...

Eand GPs told to pay for their return.
October 10, 2006... Rehabilitation GPs who wish to return to practice may have to pay for the rehabilitation process themselves, according to latest guidance. The National Clinical Assess-ment Service's (NCAS) framework is designed for doctors who have...

ADR reports rocket for atypical antipsychotics.
October 10, 2006... Prescribing Reports of adverse reactions to antipsychotic drugs have risen by 28% in a year, while prescribing rose by only 3.8% over the same period, official figures show. The figures on yellow card reports were released in response...

Private firms threaten GPs' role in forensics.
October 17, 2006... Services HUNDREDS OF highly skilled forensic GPs have been left without work, because police forces are increasingly hiring private firms to provide medical services, specialists warn. The Royal College of Physi-cians' faculty of...

GPs face battles with PCTs over report fees.
October 17, 2006... Ruling puts GPs under pressure to provide services for free Derren Hayes Every practice in the country will now have to negotiate with primary care organisations how much they charge for providing medical reports and certificates, GP...

Plan to drop clinical input in QOF checks.
October 17, 2006... Contract Amena Saleem A PCT has opted to carry out quality and outcomes framework checks with no clinical input, in breach of Department of Health recommendations. A source at Middlesbrough PCT told Doctor that this year's assessment...

GPs act to stop PCT redirecting referrals.
October 17, 2006... Working practices Cathy Comerford Angry GPs in Merseyside have been forced to resort to subterfuge to avoid having their referrals diverted by a PCT-run scheme at their local hospital. Instead of using forms provided by the PCT to...

'Simple' tool to assess heart risk.
October 17, 2006... Cardiovascular GPs can use a simple assessment of age, blood pressure and lifestyle to predict cardiovascular risk in women with similar accuracy to Framingham scores, according to researchers in Bristol. They said: 'The Framingham...

Pioglitazone's benefit questioned.
October 17, 2006... Diabetes There is no clear-cut benefit in prescribing the oral diabetes drug pioglitazone, according to Cochrane reviewers. Published studies of at least 24 weeks 'did not provide convincing evidence' that outcomes including mortality,...

Expert patients 'no use'.
October 17, 2006... Chronic disease Serious doubt has been cast on the value of the Govern-ment's much-vaunted Expert Patient Programme (EPP). Latest research shows an osteoarthritis self-management package had no impact on outcomes. The EPP involves...

White paper plans to be tested in 30 pilots.(general practitioners)(Brief article)
October 17, 2006... Reforms Government plans to move large swathes of care from hospitals into GP surgeries are to be tested at 30 pilot sites, ministers have announced. The move follows commitments made in the primary care white paper to shift...

GMC launches new good practice guide.
October 24, 2006... Medico-legal Sexual relationships with former patients will almost always be deemed inappropriate, according to a revised version of Good Medical Practice. This stands 'regardless of the length of time elapsed since the therapeutic...

Access DES falls prey to DoH interference.(United Kingdom Department of Health)
October 24, 2006... Enhanced services Adam Legge The future of the directed enhanced service on access has been thrown into jeopardy, after last-minute meddling by government negotiators. GP leaders have overwhelmingly rejected the DES, which was...

Breast screening benefits queried.
October 24, 2006... Oncology Adam Legge The benefit of the national breast cancer screening programme has been challenged by a Cochrane review. Researchers said that screening does cut the number of breast cancer deaths - by 20% based on all trials and...

Capio canvasses GPs to solicit their referrals.
October 24, 2006... Choose and Book A private healthcare company is advertising directly to GPs in a bid to attract work when it joins the Choose and Book system. Capio Healthcare, the fourth-largest private healthcare company in the UK, has placed...

GPs fear demise of profession's status.
October 24, 2006... Steve Ford Three-quarters of GPs believe their professional status is under threat, having been undermined over the past five years, according to a special investigation by Doctor. The same number believe that, as a group, GPs should be...

GPs fight regulation plans.
October 24, 2006... Revalidation More than 800 doctors have signed a petition opposing medical regulation proposals put forward by Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson. The petition, organised by Glasgow GP Dr Margaret McCartney, says medical...

Pilots set to push patient education.
October 24, 2006... Patient choice 'Information prescriptions' are to be the latest initiative from the Government in its efforts to push the patient choice agenda. Pilot projects will start next year, at a cost of [pounds sterling]1.35m, and will...