www.mddus.com GPs WORKING IN


MINOR SURGERY MDDUS recognises that GPs may undertake a range of relatively minor invasive procedures, such as contraceptive implant or coil fitting, joint injections, acupuncture or minor surgery for skin lesions and “lumps and bumps”. We will extend the benefits of GP membership to include work as described above where it accounts for less than 50 per cent of a member’s clinical time and where it is provided to NHS patients. Members must ensure that they work within the limits of their competence/training, and that the time spent undertaking such work is included within the sessions declared to MDDUS for the purposes of calculating their subscription. Members undertaking complex/specialist work,


treating private patients or exceeding the 50 per cent limit set out above, should contact our Membership Team for a tailored quote.


ALL healthcare professionals in Scotland will be practising “realistic medicine” by 2025 in a bid to increase patient involvement and reduce overtreatment. That is the vision of Scotland’s chief medical


VISION FOR “REALISTIC MEDICINE” BY 2025 Dr Calderwood’s 2016 report was broadly


welcomed by healthcare professionals and widely shared on social media, reaching almost 10 million Twitter feeds a year after publication. BMA Scotland chair Dr Peter Bennie welcomed


officer Dr Catherine Calderwood in her latest annual report, Realising Realistic Medicine, which builds on proposals set out in her first report published in 2016. Realistic medicine, the report explains, “puts the


person receiving health and care at the centre of decision-making and encourages a personalised approach to their care. Its aims of reducing harm and waste, tackling unwarranted variation in care, managing clinical risk, and innovating to improve, are essential to a well-functioning and sustainable NHS.”


the report but said doctors were concerned they do not have enough time to adopt some of the proposed innovations. He said: “Doctors want and expect to be


innovators and leaders in improving outcomes for patients, however to do this well we need time to learn, teach and reflect. We need to have an honest and open debate with the public and politicians about what the NHS can realistically provide.” Access Realising Realistic Medicine at www.gov. scot/Publications/2017/02/3336


WIDESPREAD ILLEGAL ONLINE ANTIBIOTIC


PRESCRIBING A SURVEY of online pharmacies found that 45 per cent offered antibiotics without a prescription. Researchers from Imperial College London entered the search


term “buy antibiotics online” into Google and Yahoo and the 20 pharmacies at the top of the search were analysed. The team discovered that 45 per cent did not require a prescription from the patient and only 30 per cent asked consumers to complete a health questionnaire prior to purchase. Only 70 per cent of the websites provided information on the safe


usage of prescription medications, including potential side-effects or adverse reactions when combined with other drugs. Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, Chair of the Royal


College of GPs, commented: “It’s incredibly concerning to hear that antibiotics are so readily available to patients via some online pharmacies without a prescription. This is against strict GMC guidance on remote prescribing – and it undermines the hard work that GPs are doing to reduce antibiotics prescribing, which saw prescriptions reduce by 2.6m in general practice last year alone.”


MANDATORY NHS SERVICE


PROPOSED A CONSULTATION from the Department of Health is proposing a requirement for newly trained doctors in England to work a minimum term of possibly over five years in the NHS. Doctors choosing to leave the


NHS before that term to work for a different organisation or overseas could be required to repay the “recoverable elements” of funding invested in their education. It currently costs £230,000 to train a doctor in England and the proposals are to ensure that tax payers “obtain a return on this investment”. The consultation also includes


a proposal to expand medical education by training up to 1,500 extra doctors each year in England. Currently more than 6,000 university training places are available and the plan is to increase this each year from September 2018. Medical schools that commit to supporting general practice and providing students more GP placements would be prioritised to receive a greater allocation of these places. Professor Ian Cumming, Chief


Executive of Health Education England, said that the proposals offer a “clear commitment to a sustainable future home-grown medical workforce, making us self-sufficient in doctors for years to come, giving more young people from diverse backgrounds the chance to become a doctor. “These extra places also give us the opportunity, with partners across health and education, to respond to NHS need, providing doctors in the specialties and places that patients need long into the future.”


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