NEWS DIGEST
GPs still prescribing unnecessary antibiotics A SURVEY of over 1,000 GPs has found that 70 per cent prescribe
antibiotics because they are unsure if an infection is bacterial or viral. It also found that 90 per cent of GPs feel pressured by patients to prescribe
antibiotics and 45 per cent say that they have prescribed them for a viral infection when they knew it would not treat the condition. The survey was conducted on behalf of the Longitude Prize, run by the
innovation charity Nesta. In June the public voted for antibiotics to be the focus of the £10 million prize, the remit being “to create a cost-effective, accurate, rapid and easy-to-use test for bacterial infections that will help health professionals worldwide to administer the right antibiotics at the right time”. Last year over 50 million antibacterial items were dispensed in the community in the UK and antimicrobial resistance poses a “catastrophic threat” to health in the coming decades. Tamar Ghosh who leads Longitude Prize, explains, “Across the globe we need accurate point-of-care diagnostic tools to maximise the chances that antibiotics are only used when medically necessary and that the right ones are selected to treat the condition. In the next five years, the Longitude Prize aims to find a cheap and effective diagnostic tool that can be used anywhere in the world.”
CQC moves to targeted dental inspections DENTAL inspections by the Care Quality Commission will be more targeted and focus on practices where there is “cause for concern,” according to a recent “sign- posting” statement on potential changes to the way it regulates primary care dental services in England. The CQC is also considering whether
every inspection team should include a dental specialist adviser and people with extensive understanding of dental services, acting as “experts by experience”. The statement comes ahead of a formal consultation and the start of trial inspections in November 2014. Dental services present fewer concerns on the whole compared with other providers, according to the CQC. For example, between April 2011 and October 2013, only one in eight dental locations were found to fall short of regulations in some way compared with one in five in adult social care. The CQC proposes to inspect only 10 per cent of dental providers, focusing attention upon those that are seen as “cause for concern”. The CQC will also be seeking views on whether to provide ratings to dental
l NEW SEPSIS TOOLKIT FOR DOCTORS A new RCP toolkit has been launched to help doctors on acute care wards recognise and treat sepsis more quickly. The condition kills 37,000 UK patients a year and those admitted to hospital with severe sepsis are
AUTUMN 2014
practices after 2016. John Milne, Chair of the BDA’s General Dental Practice Committee, said: “Time and again, the CQC has shown dentistry to be a low risk sector. But for too long it adopted a costly ‘one size fits’ all approach to dental inspection – and so we welcome moves to a more targeted, risk-based approach. “We are pleased that the CQC appears
to have listened to reason, so we finally see dental experts on the front line for dental inspections. It’s a simple, common sense move that would be seen as positive throughout the profession.”
dying within a month of leaving hospital, according to new research. A study by the University of Leeds found
that this risk increased by 46 per cent while the risk of death within a year went up by 74 per cent. The findings were based around nine key elements of care identified as: pre-hospital electrocardiogram, acute use of aspirin, restoring blood flow to the heart (reperfusion), prescription at hospital discharge of aspirin, timely use of four types of drug for heart attack (ACE-inhibitors, beta-blockers, angiotensin receptor blockers and statins) and referral for cardiac rehabilitation after discharge from hospital. Risks increased further for those who missed a course of treatment, such as an electrocardiogram, within the first few hours of the onset of symptoms. They were much more likely to miss other types of care later on. Researchers looked at outcomes for heart
Warning over care of heart attack patients HEART attack patients who miss just
one key element of care are at greater risk of
five times more likely to die from it than those with a heart attack or stroke. Symptoms are often not spotted meaning patients are not given lifesaving treatment in time. The guidance offers practical advice. Access the toolkit at
www.tinyurl.com/okhxe2d
attack patients discharged from hospital in England and Wales between January 2007 and December 2010. During that period, around half of the 31,000 heart attack patients discharged had missed a course of treatment.
l ENHANCED SCRUTINY IN DENTAL ADVERTISING The GDC has announced it will be working closely with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to tackle misleading dental marketing. The two organisations have agreed on a referral process
for complaints in relation to marketing materials which may breach the Advertising Codes. All enquiries regarding potentially problematic marketing material will be directed to the ASA complaints inbox. Go to www.
gdc-uk.org for more details.
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