in Northern Ireland,
Scotland and Wales. Access the report
Taking revalidation forward at https://tinyurl. com/jcnq4dm
New guidance on conflicts of interest
NEW guidelines to strengthen the management of potential conflicts of interest among NHS staff have been published by NHS England.
Guidance will permit staff to receive small
tokens of gratitude from patients, for example a box of chocolates, but will require them to decline anything that could be seen to affect professional judgement. Gifts with a value over £50 will need to be declared. It will also be standard practice for NHS commitments to take precedence over private practice, and for any member of staff – clinical or non-clinical – to declare outside employment and the details of where and when this takes place (although not earnings). The guidance has emerged from a six-week consultation conducted by NHS England in September of last year inviting views on gifts, hospitality, outside employment and private practice, sponsorship and other interests. The resulting proposals were bench marked against best practice in other industries. The guidelines are expected to come into
force on 1 June.
Clearer guidance on confidentiality
DOCTORS may be allowed to breach confidentiality without consent to protect a patient from a serious crime such as murder – even if no one else is at risk, according to updated guidance from the General Medical Council. In "very exceptional
circumstances", disclosure without consent may be justified in the public interest even if a
patient with capacity has refused and no one else is at risk. But the regulator says there must be clear evidence of an "imminent risk of serious harm" and advises clinicians to seek independent legal advice before acting. This advice forms part of the GMC’s
new "revised, expanded and reorganised" Confidentiality guidance which comes into
effect from
25 April 2017 and applies to all
doctors practising in the UK. It will replace the current guidance which was published in
2009. The new guidance also
promises clarification on the importance of sharing information
for direct care, recognising the multi- disciplinary and multi-agency context doctors work in and the circumstances in which doctors can rely on implied consent to share patient information for direct care. A new statement has also been included on the "significant role" that those close to a patient can play in their care, and "the importance of acknowledging that". Access the revised guidance at
www.gmc-uk.org
GMC proposes single licensing assessment
ALL doctors wanting to join the medical register and practise in the UK may be required to pass a standardised Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA), under new proposals by the GMC. The regulator has begun to consult on what it calls a "single route to the medical register for all doctors who wish to practise in the UK".
Currently there is significant variation in
arrangements for medical students across the UK and those wishing to join the register from outside the UK. International medical graduates (IMGs) have a number of means of entry, including the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) test, but doctors from the EU can secure a UK licence to practise without any test of their competence. Professor Terence Stephenson, Chair of the GMC, said: "Medical training in the UK is among the best in the world – our graduates do well here and when they work overseas. However, current arrangements do not allow us to assess whether UK graduates and overseas
graduates have attained the same threshold of competence when they are seeking the same licence to practise in the UK.” The GMC hopes to incorporate the new assessment into existing testing by medical schools – subject to approval – by 2022. A consultation at
www.gmc-uk.org is open for feedback until 30 April 2017.
q
REGISTRATION DEADLINE FOR INDEPENDENT CLINICS All independent dental clinics (totally private practices) in Scotland must be registered with Health Improvement Scotland (HIS) by 1 April
2017.Practitioners can register using an online service and more information is available from the Independent Healthcare Enquiry line at 0131 623 4342 or via email at www.hcis.
clinicregulation@nhs.net. Failure to register will result in the operating dentist being reported to the procurator fiscal service for prosecution.
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IMPROVED LUNG CANCER SURVIVAL A new report shows a seven per cent increase in lung cancer patients surviving for longer than one year compared with results from 2010. The National Lung Cancer
Audit Report 2016 reveals that one-year survival rose from 31 to 38 per cent in the five-year period from 2010 to 2015, and also that 60 per cent of lung cancer patients received anti- cancer treatment such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery, meeting a target set out in 2015.
q
NEW APP FOR GMC GUIDANCE An app that allows healthcare professionals to conveniently access Good medical practice (GMP) guidance has been launched by the GMC. My GMP can be
uploaded for use in smartphones and tablets and is designed to allow a quick on-the-spot search for relevant guidance. Find out more and
download the app at
www.gmc-uk.org
MDDUS INSIGHT / 7
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