NEWS DIGEST


Dire warnings over antibiotic resistance HEALTHCARE workers should be given extra training to tackle the


“ticking time bomb” of antimicrobial resistance, according to the chief medical officer of England. Dame Sally Davies said urgent


work must be done “to ensure the apocalyptic scenario of widespread antimicrobial resistance does not become a reality.” She warned that minor surgery and routine operations could become high-risk procedures in the absence of suitable antibiotics. The warnings come in her annual


report and include 17 recommendations to address the threat. Dame Sally said training and continuing professional development should include a specific focus on the prevention and management of infections and should be available to “all health and care professionals including managers from chief executive down.” She urged the government to put antimicrobial resistance on the national risk


register and to effectively implement a five year cross-governmental strategy. She also made direct recommendations to Public Health England and the NHS Commissioning Board, urging them to monitor infection, antimicrobial prescribing and antimicrobial resistance.


Beware dental prescription form theft


DENTAL practices are being urged to have protocols in place to minimise the risk of fraud from the use of stolen prescription forms, particularly for illegally attaining controlled drugs.


MDDUS dental adviser Rachael Bell


believes the threat of fraud can be reduced by ensuring all the dental team are aware


the prescriber should be recorded along with date of issue, the number of prescriptions issued and to whom. In this way missing forms can easily be accounted for – at which point the matter should be reported to the designated person at the NHS Board or PCT. Records of all serial numbers received should be retained for at least three years along with an audit trail for prescription forms - including forms completed and then subsequently not used together with forms not issued due to an error filling them out. As well as minimising the risk of prescription form theft, practices are required to act quickly if an incident of theft or fraud occurs to help reduce the resulting damage. The NHS Counter Fraud Services (CFS)


investigates fraud allegations concerning both patients and healthcare professionals and may become involved if there is a suspected incident of fraud. For further information and advice on prescription form theft from Practitioner Services in Scotland go to www.tinyurl.com/c3n32uu


Language test for doctors DOCTORS who want to treat NHS


of the consequences of prescription forms going missing. “Prescription pads are small and easily


removed from practices and handbags,” says Bell. “Therefore, practices should take necessary steps to reduce the risk of prescription pads being stolen and act swiftly if an incident of theft occurs. “Prescription form theft can result in


acts of fraud, with stolen forms being used to obtain controlled drugs illegally.”


Bell advises that, upon


delivery of prescription forms, managers or principals should ensure a process is in place to record how many prescription pads are in stock and the relevant serial numbers. Details of


patients will have to prove they can speak good English. The Department of Health announced


that, from April, there will be a legal duty to ensure doctors can speak “a necessary level of English” before they are allowed to treat patients in hospitals or GP surgeries. There will also be a single national list that every GP will have to be on before treating NHS patients. This replaces the individual lists currently held by primary care trusts. The government is also proposing to


give the GMC new powers from 2014 to prevent doctors from being granted a licence to practise medicine in the UK where concerns arise about their ability to speak English. A consultation on the new powers will be launched later this year. It will also include plans to create a new category of impairment relating to deficient language skills. This would allow


● TOOTH DECAY HIGHEST AMONG POOREST Hospital admissions for tooth decay are highest in the most deprived areas of England, according to new figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).


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Almost a fifth of admissions (18 per cent) were from the most deprived 10 per cent of the population while the least deprived 10 per cent accounted for only four per cent of admissions for tooth decay.


● CHANGING HEALTH DEMOGRAPHICS


Noncommunicable diseases now account for 80 per cent of deaths in Europe according to the WHO’s European health report 2012. Diseases of the circulatory


system (ischaemic heart disease, stroke, etc.) account for nearly 50 per cent of all deaths followed by cancer causing some 20 per cent of deaths. Life expectancy continues to increase (age 76 in 2010) and Europe has the lowest


SUMMONS


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