BMA Q and A: mental healthcare in the armed forces
BMA armed forces committee chair Glynn Evans answers your questions What is the BMA doing about mental healthcare in the armed forces? The association is pressing for greater provision in mental healthcare for military personnel during the latest reading of the Armed Forces Bill. The bill, which has been debated during its report stage in the Lords in recent weeks, has included discussion of two amendments drafted by the BMA and tabled by Labour party defence spokesperson Lord Touhig. The five-yearly Armed Forces Bill provides the legal basis for the UK’s armed forces and its system of military law.   What are...
Source: BMA News - May 17, 2016 Category: UK Health Source Type: news

Penalties for under-resourced doctor concerns
GP practices rated outstanding or good by the CQC (Care Quality Commission) have benefited from more funding than those deemed inadequate or requiring improvement, the BMA can reveal. A report released today highlights the pattern between practices with higher average funding per patient and better inspection ratings — raising concerns that under-resourced doctors are being penalised. The report calls for fairer funding across the country and appeals to the Government and NHS England to ensure all practices are given at least the same funding as the average practice rated outstanding. ‘This analysis shows there...
Source: BMA News - May 16, 2016 Category: UK Health Source Type: news

Seven-day plan is unworkable, says royal college leader
The unresourced plan to expand seven-day services in the NHS has crushed morale in a service already ‘stretched beyond reason’, a royal college president has said. Royal College of Physicians of London president Jane Dacre told the BMA junior doctors conference that the policy was not workable with staff struggling to meet existing demand. Professor Dacre also told the conference that health policy — particularly during a time when resource was so scarce and demand so high — must be based on scientific evidence. It followed a week in which health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s analysis of the ‘...
Source: BMA News - May 16, 2016 Category: UK Health Source Type: news

Plain tobacco packaging ruled 'lawful'
Regulations drafted by the EU to allow for standardised tobacco packaging are lawful, a court has ruled following a legal challenge. An EU directive issued in 2014 had ruled in favour of standardised packaging of tobacco products, as well as the outlawing of menthol cigarettes, by 2020, and the placing of new regulations on e-cigarettes. Poland, Romania and the tobacco industry challenged the validity of the directive, but last week’s ruling in the European Court of Justice dismissed the challenge and upheld the original directive. The ruling that the EU directive on tobacco products is valid means that standardisat...
Source: BMA News - May 16, 2016 Category: UK Health Source Type: news

Junior doctors a 'generation of leaders'
A generation of junior doctors have shown they are ‘inspiring’ leaders who will ‘go to extraordinary lengths’ to improve the NHS for patients. That was the message from BMA junior doctors committee chair Johann Malawana, who told a conference of colleagues that the unity created by the long-running contract dispute should be celebrated. Speaking at the BMA’s annual junior doctors conference Dr Malawana said there are now leaders on every hospital ward in the country and praised consultants, SAS doctors and GPs for coming together. ‘There is much on which we and the government differ, but...
Source: BMA News - May 14, 2016 Category: UK Health Source Type: news

'Safe spaces' for mentally ill
A £15m fund has been unveiled by the Government, which will be used to create ‘safe places’ to stop people with mental health problems being kept in police cells. The cash will be available in 10 police force areas — and it is expected to be used to build new facilities or refurbish existing ones. The money can also be used to create mental health crisis cafes or provide ambulance transport to places of safety, to ensure police cars aren’t used. The move follows BMA campaigning that called for the Government to commit to provide appropriate mental health facilities and urged action to tackle p...
Source: BMA News - May 13, 2016 Category: UK Health Source Type: news

Out-of-hours provider hands contract back to commissioners
A social enterprise running out-of-hours primary care services across three English counties has handed its contract back to commissioners amid spiralling demand and lack of resource. CNCS (Central Nottinghamshire Clinical Services) has been providing out-of-hours care in Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Rutland for more than 10 years but doctors say it has been unable to cope with the needs of patients and dwindling staff numbers. Care across the region will now be fragmented with a mental health trust, the organisation that runs 111 locally and another out-of-hours specialist taking over in different areas. North Nott...
Source: BMA News - May 13, 2016 Category: UK Health Source Type: news

Doctors leaders ready to work with new Welsh Government
Doctors leaders have said they look forward to working with the new Welsh Government following last week's elections for the Welsh National Assembly. It looks likely that Labour will once again form a minority Government after winning 29 seats out of 60 — despite a drop in its overall share of the vote. The surprise outcome in the election was Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood's ousting of Welsh Government minister Leighton Andrews from his Rhondda constituency seat. Ms Wood had been one of 20 regional AMs voted for by a system of proportional representation but decided to contest her home constituency seat for this ...
Source: BMA News - May 13, 2016 Category: UK Health Source Type: news

Pension reforms slow recruitment
Health services on the Isle of Man are struggling to attract and retain doctors as uncertainty with proposed public sector pension reforms continues. Ministers from the Isle’s parliament, the Tynwald, have continued to defer debating a series of recommendations designed to increase sustainability in the island’s public sector pensions fund, which faces a deficit in terms of past-service benefits. The BMA is among a number of trade unions warning that failure to safeguard pension funds or deviation from terms offered to staff on the mainland, risks increasing the numbers of doctors leaving the island. There is n...
Source: BMA News - May 12, 2016 Category: UK Health Source Type: news

Poor leadership to blame for staffing crisis
Unrealistic efficiency targets, poor leadership and a failure to recruit, train and retain medics have caused a spiralling staffing crisis in the NHS. A damning report released today by the Commons public accounts committee, which includes MPs from across the political spectrum, says Government and NHS leaders’ failures have led to a shortfall of 50,000 NHS staff. It calls health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s plans for ‘seven-day services’ into question — suggesting the Government has made ‘no coherent attempt’ to consider the staffing needs necessary to deliver its pledge. Committee ch...
Source: BMA News - May 11, 2016 Category: UK Health Source Type: news

Exasperation with GP support services
NHS England must take responsibility for and address the systemic failings in GP support services following last year’s takeover by private firm Capita. BMA GPs committee chair Chaand Nagpaul has written to NHS England to express his concern, following a ‘multitude of serious complaints’ from GPs regarding PCS (Primary Care Support) England. In his letter of 6 May, Dr Nagpaul (pictured) explains that shortcomings and delays in practices’ core administrative functions were resulting in increased workloads and impacting care quality for patients. He says: ‘Capita appears to have been considerabl...
Source: BMA News - May 11, 2016 Category: UK Health Source Type: news

Hunt: staff shortage due to excessive 'optimism'
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has admitted successive governments — including his own — have failed to train enough staff to satisfy the needs of the NHS. Speaking during health questions in Commons, Mr Hunt blamed the rocketing NHS agency bill, which drained the service of £3bn last year, on an ‘optimistic’ view of how few staff could safely manage a ward. Mr Hunt (pictured) claimed to be taking action to decrease the vast costs — suggesting the agency cap implemented by the Government last year, which gives hospitals a defined limit on spending with agencies, would save £1bn a yea...
Source: BMA News - May 10, 2016 Category: UK Health Source Type: news

BMA Q and A: what has happened to the GP rescue package?
BMA GPs committee chair Chaand Nagpaul answers your questions A special local medical committees conference was held in January that gave the BMA GPs committee six months to negotiate a ‘rescue package’ for general practice with the Government. What has happened since then? We have worked hard to demonstrate the reality of the crisis via our Urgent Prescription for General Practice campaign. Our heatmap survey results in February, March and April highlighted that nine out of 10 practices have seen a rise in workload over the past year, and half report that quality of care has deteriorated. One in 10 says they...
Source: BMA News - May 10, 2016 Category: UK Health Source Type: news

GP rating sites — out there and unfair
The number of websites allowing patients to post reviews of the care they receive from their GP practices is increasing. But doctors say that many reviews are unfairly negative and even abusive, with GPs often unable to respond to anonymous reviewers, as Peter Blackburn finds out 'It is very easy to be a popular doctor, but it’s much harder to be a good one.’ That is the warning of Leeds GP Richard Vautrey, as the profession is left increasingly open to criticism on TripAdvisor-style websites where care, compassion and life-saving expertise are rated by patients as if they were restaurants or hotels. Government...
Source: BMA News - May 10, 2016 Category: UK Health Source Type: news

BMA re-enters contract talks
The BMA will today re-enter talks with the Government over the junior doctors’ contract. It comes after the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges called on both sides in the dispute to return to the table — with negotiations chaired by a third party. Five days of ‘intensive talks’ from Monday to Friday are planned and ACAS chair Sir Brendan Barber will lead the negotiations. BMA junior doctors committee chair Johann Malawana (pictured) said he hoped ‘real progress can be made’. He said: ‘The BMA has agreed to re-enter talks with the Government on outstanding issues in this dispute, whi...
Source: BMA News - May 9, 2016 Category: UK Health Source Type: news