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August 24, 2002

FRONT PAGE

The Junior Doctors' training is to be reviewed the Mental Health Bill is criticised (both quite rightly) and consultants are retiring early.   A final item is that this government is destroying the Defence medical services.  Idiocy, especially after the experience of two recent conflicts and a war to come, perhaps.

ELSEWHERE

PCOs are diverting GP cash for their own use.   Not surprising but GPs will be blamed for any deficiencies in the wonderful revolution promised in medical services.

The wonderful "GP leaders" (how Chisholm must relish that description) has reassured rural doctors (you reader) that you are not being forgotten in out-of-hours discussions.   Not that they know what to do about it.

Doom & gloom merchant Peter Hawker, who said there could be no more negotiations with government over the consultant contract, has voiced concerns to government.   Absolutely pointless, of course, if there cannot be more negotiations.

GP lists are full and they are attempting to turn new patients away as fast as the PCO allocates them through the back door.

In her Opinion article GP Lucy Free has a go at hospital doctors who try to wriggle out of accepting patients from GPs even though the GP may have had 20 years experience and the junior doctor 20 weeks.  GPs should be believed.

And, that's about it, politically, in the present edition of BMANEWS.

August 17, 2002

FRONT PAGE

Rural GP's will not be surprised that there is a shortage of applicants for rural practices.  A survey by the Welsh Assembly showed an increase from 84 to 133 in vacant posts in Wales.   GP, Dr David Johnson, said that the main problem is not money but the way GPs are regarded and looked down on by politicians and many sectors within the NHS itself.   This is a sentiment which this magazine has put forward forcibly on many occasions.   However, with a Secretary of State whose political mouth  is so much bigger than his intellectual capacity no doubt matters will continue to get worse.

Meantime, said Milburn is continuing to admit failure and to recommend sending people abroad for treatment.  One wonders whether his brain is bigger than the cavity in his second left upper molar.  To be constructive, the way to retain staff, doctors, nurses and the rest is to treat them better not to assume they are subhuman criminals.   However, to an ex-Marxist bookseller who now for expediency's sake rejects those principles and suggests privatising parts of the NHS, that concept will be beyond reach.

ELSEWHERE

Medical Academics promote contract.
Fellow Council member, MASC Chairman Colin Smith, has recommended the new consultants contract to medical academics.   His colleague, Peter Hawker, CCHC Chairman, has reassured him that there would be no detrimental effects to academics.

Violence
Few will be surprised that there is an atmosphere of violence in Northern Ireland but many may not realise that this is now being directed against medical staff, some of whom have had death threats from one side or the other.   Overall there is an increasing rate of punishment injuries, beatings, shootings and the rest.  Rather quaintly, the police chief says the number is "unacceptable".   I would have thought that even one case was unacceptable but such is the culture in the benighted province that they are now accepted as everyday happenings.

Encouraging the well...
Consultant physician Mike Allison writes a very persuasive piece against the principle of offering mass screening for the well to the detriment of the unwell who need investigations when the NHS cannot provide both.   This seems to be eminently sensible reasoning.   On an earlier page the Audit Commission is reported as saying that there is a crisis in radiology. Yet still the molar-brained SoS promotes more and more politically motivated screening programmes whilst, at the same time admitting the shortage of staff.   You would assume that even he could link the two items and realise that NSFs and the like are just not possible.   However, 2002 is almost over and his deadline of 2004 rapidly approaches with little discernable improvement in the situation.   Damocles may well chop his head off, yet.

HAWKER'S PIECE
More space is devoted to chairman of CCHC, Peter Hawker's attempt to browbeat or cajole consultants into accepting what is increasingly considered to be deficient new contract proposals.    An example of the chaiman's reasoning is given when he "reassures" a questioner about evening, night-time or weekend work.   Apparently managers always did have the right to force consultants to work at these times, although it wasn't in the old contract and they didn't realise it.   CCHCs way forward is to spell it out for managers in the new contract.    That, according to Dr Hawker 's reasoning is an improvement.    For whom, Peter?   For whom?

Interested doctors should visit the forums on <ww.doctors.net.uk> for opinions not from CCHC.

No other comment is necessary than to say that the Juniors committee unanimously rejected Hawker's contract this week.   If the national referendum goes the same way, the best that Hawker could do would be to realise his failure and quietly resign.