JOIN CDA NEWS INDEX POLITICS DISPENSING EDUCATION FEATURES BOOKS SMALL ADS GP FEES LIGHT BITES
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There was no BMAnews on 26 April. Possibly
because it was Easter week. However, all the weekly medical
papers were published.
19 April, 2003 FRONT PAGE Proving Armageddon to be the in-word, doctors' leaders (them again) say that government plans for foundation trusts could be the "NHS Armageddon". Indeed, they appear to be right that the appearance of these organisations could lead to severe fault lines developing in the Service as they exercise their freedom to ignore national negotiations and set their own pay scales. CCSC Chairman, Paul Miller, fears the two-tier service which would develop. George Rae fears that they would take over PCTs. Consultants are stepping up their pressure on Milburn and will be able to choose to work a maximum 48 hour week by the end of the year. CCSC are wondering how Milburn will plug the gap now he has successfully slaughtered the goodwill upon which the NHS survived. Further action is contemplated. Summer pay rise is likely for most doctors other than GPs but it will be restricted to the rise in inflation. GPs will rise will come after their vote and Dr Chisholm has argued that as demand far exceeds supply the rise should be greater. ELSEWHERE The GMC registration system is described. Those who want to practice must have a licence by January 2005. In April of that year about one-fifth of doctors will be randomly selected for revalidation. Fast-track assessment for foreign doctors from countries with health systems comparable to the UK (bankrupt and decrepit?) will be the order of the day as Milburn strives to plug the gap. "GP leaders" are hoping that the revised ready-reckoner and final contract information will be ready for the special LMC Conference in May. Dr Chisholm said he was frustrated by lack of action from the NHS Federation on various matters including MPIG. Dr Bogle says there is a crisis of confidence as excessive targets and political interference has led to mistrust between doctors, managers and government. The name of the Secretary of State responsible for this disaster in Alan Milburn, possibly the most incompetent holder of that high office. PCTs face meltdown as half the doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals plan to leave their PCT posts within the next year due to excess workload. Two thirds say that their is too much bureaucracy and not enough finance is getting through to the front line. GPC says few PCT boards have doctors as chairmen and they are not run by doctors as government would have the population believe. 96% of doctors in a survey said too much was being asked of GPs and over 80% said PCTs had increased the workload. And the incompetent in charge is...Alan Milburn. Hamish Meldrum, a GPC negotiator agrees that GPs have lost confidence in the negotiating team and that the team cannot expect their word to be taken. He then goes on to commend a few items from a very controlling and negative contract. But, then, I'm biased, too. Other articles cover:
12 April 2003 Once again this edition virtually ignores the GP contract fiasco. Agreed, it is the lead item on the front page but the only other reference to it is a minor spat on the Letters Page between the editor and a correspondent who complains of the rather biased coverage of the subject. The editor disagrees. FRONT PAGE In an item carefully not telling the whole truth BMAnews leads with the story that a special meeting of GPC has been called to discuss the contract by 20 LMCs. The magazine does not tell its readers that there is to be a vote of no confidence calling for the resignation of the negotiators. Indeed, it continues its toadying behaviour to the negotiators by a simple mention of the conference whilst going on to describe Dr Chisholm's hopes for the PIG. Once again BMA news shows itself not to be The Voice of Doctors, as its slogan shouts, but the voice of the BMA. Events are showing the two to be markedly opposed. The answer to this bias would be to remove the Chairman of Council from his position as editor in chief. Milburn's efforts and spin have been shown to be what they are during the A & E exercise. Doctors and other A & E staff worked their goolies off, and were given the resources to do so, at the time when the figures would prove to be favourable to Milburn's shenanikins. In other words, they all assisted Milburn to cheat the public because the resources provided and the staff effort. Once again Milburn will be shown to be a shyster, con-man more interested in political outcomes than real health outcomes. ELSEWHERE Preparation for biological warfare needs more effort putting into it, say "doctors". CRaP, the Council for the Regulation of HeAlthcare Professionals, a quango which was sneakily designed by Milburn to oversee the "independent" GMC, has appointed eight lay members. As if there weren't enough busybodies and groups only too ready to doctor-bash already. Students are advised to lobby their MPs over loans and debts. It may bear fruit. Single-handed Scots Island GP Angela Lewis has resigned citing, as her reason, the lack of support from the NHS. She has been on-call every day and night without a break for 18 months. The deputy chief executive of the Western Isles NHS Board, Brian Liddle, with at least eight paid weeks holidays and a 9 to 5/ 5 day week job said he "understood" but could not "sway from the regulations". No doubt he will sleep soundly in his bed even after picking up a golden handshake if he leaves his job. GPs in Northern Ireland are demanding more protection from violent patients fearing that "someone is bound to die". Apart from that almost being par for the course in NI, it is appalling that there is so much feet dragging by the authorities. But, then, who cares about GPs? The rather switched on BMA Armed Forces committee chairman, Dr John Ferguson, is drawing attention to more government folly. They have cut the forces by 30% and the Defence Medical services by 50%. This has the effect of TA doctors who have no military experience being used in the Gulf and making the few profession army doctors work closely with NHS colleagues in NHS hospitals. The DMS staff then realises how appallingly they are paid - and they leave the services. Although he does not mention this, the Army then goes on to attempt to attract civvy doctors into the Army with a £50,000 "HELLO". More NHS folly is revealed in an article describing the Interbalkan European Medical Centre in Thessaloniki, Greece. This private hospital has 400 beds, is higher state of the art and has special facilities for British patients yet the NHS is ignoring it. BMAnews devotes two pages to its eulogy.
5 April, 2003 This edition just about brings itself to mention that the biggest crisis in general practice politics is taking place. It manages a front page item and a column on page 3. Well done BMA news. FRONT PAGE Continuing to ignore its claim to be The Voice of Doctors BMAnews shows that once again it is the voice of BMA doctors, in particular the negotiating teams. It describes the GPC bodge cobbled together to please Milburn and some floating voters as a "win-win contract solution" which "has left doctors leaders (yes, them again) confident of meeting government deadlines. That, of course, is what it is all about. It matters not, to the negotiators, that they have toiled long and hard to come up with the wrong answer, so long as they can hurry to disaster in time to Milburn's demands. The win-win solution scrabbled together involves a PIG (Permanent Income Guarantee) which the 70% of GPs caught up in the cock-up can opt for. It seems to trouble the negotiators not a whit that what most GPs are anxious about is their failure to address workload and the dramatic increase in PCO control of general practice. Sure, any practice will react violently when the dumb-heads in charge of negotiating come up with a pay cut of ginormous proportions. But the upset is not all about money. However, BVMAnews follows the party line in the worst traditions of journalism. Once again the question arises. Is BMAnews a Pravda organisation? Welsh consultants seem to be making some progress - if BMAnews is to be believed. The government has delayed its NHS privatisation Bill until after Easter. The Tories are taunting them that they are running scared of yet another back-bench rebellion over foundation hospitals. ELSEWHERE Medical students are keeping up the pressure on government. They continue to protest over the exceptionally large debts medics will be saddled with after graduation. This, they say, will discriminate against and deter poorer students from becoming doctors. Meantime half junior jobs in Scotland do not obey the new deal hours limits. They limits were put into place 12 years ago. PIGS and the GP contract are featured on page 3 in the form of a question and answer section amounting to one column. The size of the blunder by Dr Chisholm's team is revealed in one answer which baldly states that half the 11,000 UK practices would have lost under the original Chisholm cheat. Colleagues will have seen the details of the bodge in the various comics. There is no discussion about the bad points but BMAnews is a GPC paper. Ballot papers for GMC elections have been sent out. Please vote. GP prescribing has risen by 29% between 1999 and 2002 largely due to their implementation of the various NSFs. However, funds have not flowed into PCOs to allow for this despite Health Ministers saying that it is a good thing. Consultants psychiatrists are complaining that they are under too much pressure from stringent standards and growing workloads. They should try being GPs who have an ever-increasing number of stringent NSFs to keep up with - or, if they are foolish enough to vote for the new contract - too many "quality" points to chase to keep up their income. The Letters Page once again fails to reflect the indignation and anger amongst GPs. It publishes only one letter relevant to the contract and that serves to give the negotiators (anonymously) an opportunity to shoot the letter writer down. Is this a toady paper or is it not? Other articles cover: Managed clinical
networks in Scotland, for diabetes |