MPractice


Unfair dismissal rule change


EMPLOYEES will have to wait longer to bring a claim for unfair dismissal under major new laws that came into effect in April. The required qualifying period enabling


employees to raise a claim has increased from one year to two years for new employees only. The government says the move is designed to “provide more time for employers and employees to resolve difficulties, give employers greater confidence in taking on people and ease the bur- den on the employment tribunal processes”. The predicted drop in unfair dismissal claims


as a result of the change will save British businesses an estimated £6 million a year. However, the changes may see an increase in the number of discrimination claims made, as this does not involve any service requirement and may be a way for an employee to get their claim into a tribunal.


The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal has increased from £68,400 to £72,300. Other new measures affecting employment tribunal procedures include a


requirement for costs to be paid up-front in order to lodge a tribunal claim, the right for employment judges to hear some unfair dismissal cases alone and witness statements being ‘taken as read’ unless the tribunal directs otherwise.


PM conference ‘amazing and informative’


anager


One in 20 GP prescriptions contains error


THE sixth MDDUS Practice Managers’ Conference in March has been hailed a big success by delegates. The two-day event at the Fairmont St Andrews Hotel


got off to a fantastic start with keynote speaker Stephen Carver from the Cranfield School of Management. His opening presentation looked at the similarities between medical and dental practices and NASA as ‘safety critical organisations’. The keynote address was hailed as “excellent” by


GPs in England make mistakes in one in 20 prescriptions, a major new study has revealed.


And while most errors were classed as mild or moderate, one in every 550 prescriptions contained “serious er- rors”. The research commissioned by the General Medical Council found one in eight patients had mistakes in their prescriptions, with the elderly and the young the worst affected. The study looked at 15 general prac-


tices from three areas of England and analysed the records of 1,777 patients. Among the mistakes noted the most common were incomplete information on the prescription (30 per cent), dos- age errors (18 per cent) and incorrect timing of doses (11 per cent). The most common monitoring error was a failure to request monitoring (69 per cent). Researchers identified a number


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of contributing factors in prescribing errors including deficiencies in GP pre- scribing training, pressure and distrac- tions at work, lack of robust systems for ensuring patients receive necessary blood tests and problems relating to GPs using computer systems, i.e. over- riding important drug interaction alerts. GMC chairman Professor Sir Peter


Rubin said effective computer systems and careful patient monitoring were key to reducing errors. He also sug- gested doctors and patients could benefit from greater involvement from pharmacists in supporting prescribing and monitoring. He added: “We will be leading discus- sions with relevant organisations, in- cluding the RCGP and the CQC, and the the Department of Health, to ensure that our findings are translated into ac- tions that help protect patients.”


many delegates, with one practice manager comment- ing: “Stephen Carver’s presentation was the best I’ve ever attended”, while a fellow practice manager added: “As per previous conferences, the key speaker was amazing and informative.” Around 180 delegates attended a varied range of


workshops during the conference, learning about topics including understanding your team and yourself using the DISC behavioural awareness tool, assertiveness skills, the anatomy of a claim, dealing with bullying and harassment, new GMC guidance, changing employment contracts, handling media enquiries and much more. The conference was brought to a close with a two-hour


live scenario showing the Journey of a Complaint featuring a presentation from the Scottish Public Services Ombuds- man. SPSO and MDDUS staff acted out the scenario that involved the removal of a family from a practice list. More than 70 per cent of the delegates who gave


feedback said they found the conference “extremely useful”. One manager praised the “relevant and informa- tive” topics while others praised the impressive venue and great networking opportunities. In summing up the event, another manager concluded: “Once again you pulled out all the stops and provided a fabulous conference.”


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