NEWS Manager Practice


boundaries with patients – and looks at a few testing scenarios in which healthcare staff might overstep the mark. Dr Allan Gaw talks life and


IT has been estimated that around one per cent of patients identify themselves as transgender. This may not seem so surprising to practice managers, as most will be aware of at least one or two patients who are transgender. These patients can


sometimes find it difficult to confide in doctors or other healthcare staff. It is important to be sensitive and supportive, as well as fully aware of the legislation set out to protect the rights of ‘trans’ patients, while also recognising that practice staff may feel out of their depth in this area. On page 12 of this issue Liz Price offers advice on best practice in the care of transgender patients. On page 8 medical adviser Dr Naeem Nazem considers the professional and ethical obligation to maintain appropriate


COVER PHOTOGRAPH: SHANNON TOFTS


death and toothpaste on page 6 in his article on decision- making. Just because a decision is difficult doesn’t always mean it’s important. And on page 7 employment law adviser Janice Sibbald offers guidance on how to keep within the law when it becomes necessary to make staff redundant. In our profile on page 10 Jim Killgore visits an inner- city practice in Glasgow that is seeing tangible benefits in integrating health and social care. Garscadden Burn Medical Practice belongs to a group of 100 practices at the “deep end” – serving the poorest populations in Scotland. A pilot programme employing a “links practitioner” who provides social prescribing and non-clinical advice is yielding surprising results. Our regular Call log on


page 4 covers a range of issues including staff adoption leave, wrongful access to patient records, accepting gifts and disposing of complaints files. The case study on page 14 concerns a mistaken disclosure of a child protection issue that leads to anger and conflict among an extended family.


 Scott Obrzud Editor


PRACTICES PLAYING MUSIC


“MUST BUY A LICENCE” PRACTICES playing the radio or other forms of music in public areas must buy a licence or risk legal action. A recent media report suggested dental surgeries may be paying


“unwarranted” fees to collection agencies PRS for Music and PPL to listen to music in waiting areas or consulting rooms. The article cited a decision made by the European Court of Justice in


2012 (Società Consortile Fonografici v Marco Del Corso) which found that broadcasting music within private dental practices in Italy did not require the purchase of a licence. But a PRS for Music spokeswoman has confirmed that the ruling “concerns specific types of rights and remuneration which are not relevant in UK law or to PRS for Music”. She said: “The law in the UK clearly provides that the performance


and playing in public of works, sound recordings, films or broadcasts, is an act restricted by copyright and exercisable only with the consent of the copyright owner. Therefore, PRS for Music has the right to license businesses who use PRS members’ musical works in this way.” A PRS licence for a practice waiting room, she added, costs from £84.13 a year. Practices may also require a PPL licence. Find out more at www.prsformusic.com and www.ppluk.com


RISE IN ABUSE FROM


PATIENTS PRACTICE managers are most likely among all primary care staff to experience patient abuse, with only nine per cent reporting not having been abused in some form over the last 12 months, according to a report from Pulse publisher Cogora. Over 2,000 primary care workers


were surveyed for the report – entitled Primary Concerns – which


also found that 66 per cent of GPs experienced abuse over the period, a rise of seven per cent over the previous year. This included four per cent of GPs reporting physical violence from patients and 61 per cent having been verbally abused. However, compared to other primary care staff, GPs remain less affected by abuse. Reported abuse of practice managers rose by 17 per cent in the


year and there was a particular spike in written abuse, including online messages and on social media, which increased from 10 to 44 per cent. The survey found that across all primary care workers, the numbers experiencing abuse were reported as:


EDITORS: Scott Obrzud Helen Ormiston


ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Jim Killgore Joanne Curran


DESIGN: Connect Communications www.connectmedia.cc


PRINT: Printwell www.printwell-ltd.co.uk


CORRESPONDENCE: PM Editor MDDUS Mackintosh House 120 Blythswood Street Glasgow G2 4EA


t: 0333 043 4444 e: PM@mddus.com w: www.mddus.com


• Verbal - 64 per cent (up from 54 per cent) • Physical – 6 per cent (unchanged) • Written – 24 per cent (up from 12 per cent).


Surprisingly, the effect on morale was not as great as might be


expected. The authors of the report state: “Physical abuse from patients was rated as having no effect on morale, whereas verbal abuse from patients seemingly had a greater impact. While this only had a moderate effect on GPs, it was rated more highly by practice managers – the professional group most likely to receive this form of abuse.”


GPC deputy chair Dr Richard Vautrey commented: “It is very


concerning that any patient feels that they can act in this way when GPs and their staff are doing their best to help and care for them. “The NHS must not only adopt a zero tolerance policy to abusive


Practice Manager is published by The Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, Registered in Scotland No 5093 at Mackintosh House, 120 Blythswood Street, Glasgow G2 4EA. The MDDUS is not an insurance company. All the benefits of membership of MDDUS are discretionary as set out in the Articles of Association. The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors in Practice Manager are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland.


behaviour but must also back up practice staff when they are subjected to these types of incidents.” Source: Pulse


SPRING 2017  ISSUE 16


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