www.mddus.com GUIDANCE ON PROTECTING


VULNERABLE ADULTS DOCTORSare reminded of their duty to protect vulnerable adults from abuse or neglect in new guidance from the BMA. Safeguarding vulnerable adults – a toolkit for general practitioners aims to provide step- by-step instructions on issues such as identifying vulnerable adults and offers advice to doctors who suspect patients are being abused. The toolkit comprises a series


of cards, each of which contain a checklist of key points. It stresses that safeguarding vulnerable adults is not the same as child protection and that doctors should help vulnerable adults lead independent lives. The information pack guides


doctors through various scenarios, including an elderly womanin the early stages of Alzheimer’s who wants to live in her own home. The Department of Health


commissioned the BMA to produce the toolkit following concerns over a lack of clarity on the issue. Read Safeguarding vulnerable adults – a toolkit for general practitioners at www.tinyurl.com/3mkp2mn


‘SHARED DECISION-MAKING’ GUIDELINES FOR DOCTORS


DOCTORS should take time to discuss treatment options with patients and encouragethem to talk about their condition, according to a new report from the King’s Fund. Making shared


decision-making a reality: No decision about me, without me aims to set out how clinicians can engage


in ‘shared decision-making’ with patients during consultations. The report is a response to health secretary Andrew Lansley’s vision of an NHS that places patients’ needs, wishes and preferences at the heart of clinical decision- making.


The King’s Fund define shared decision- making as "a process in which clinicians and patients work together to select tests, treatments, management or support packages, based on clinical evidence and the patient's informed preferences". Their report details the skills and resources required to implement it and also outlines what action is needed to make this vision a reality. According to the report, the principle of


shared decision-making in the context of a clinical consultation is that it should:


 support patients to articulate their understanding of their condition and of what they hope treatment (or self- management support) will achieve


 inform patients about their condition, about the treatment or support options available, and about the benefits and risks of each


 ensure that patients and clinicians arrive at a decision based on mutual understanding of this information


 record and implement the decision reached.


The importance of communication skills is highlighted in the report which suggests that tools to help patients make decisions are just as important as guidelines for doctors.


Links:


Making shared decision-making a reality: No decision about me, without me - www.tinyurl.com/3sf8m8


GPsWORRY PROFESSION FACES


WORKFORCE CRISIS HALF of GPs responding to a recent online survey expressed worries that the GP profession could be heading towards a workforce crisis.


And a further 49 per cent felt that


doctors’ training is likely to weaken over the next five years given current changes in the healthcare system. The survey of 1,095 GPs was conducted


by the online medical news service OnMedica which also targeted the views of GP trainers.


Among the reasons why the GPs felt


training would weaken was a belief that funding issues will mean the overall quality of training will suffer and that training will become more fragmented with fewer training posts available for junior doctors. GP trainers rated the difficulty of juggling


service commitments to practice and training as their biggest frustration closely followed by the use of electronic documents (eportfolio) associated with GP training. Some 68 per cent of GP trainers felt that the number of clinical entries required to be recorded in the eportfolio by trainees in the GP registrar year is excessive, with numbers evenly split on whether or not there were too many assessments in the ST3 year. See the full results at


www.tinyurl.com/3d92ppm


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