News MDDUS EDITOR Dr Barry Parker


THE Government announcement in October of plans for a state-backed indemnity scheme for GPs in England has resulted in much media discussion and speculation, but to date the plans are conspicuously short on detail. MDDUS continues to lobby and engage with key influencers about the scheme to ensure that the views of members and patients alike are at the forefront of the decision-making process. Chief Executive Chris Kenny summarises our current position on page 8. General practice currently faces many challenges, with a toxic combination of workload pressures and recruitment difficulties, and in our profile on page 10, Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, current Chair of the RCGP, reveals how it feels to lead the organisation through such turbulent times. Also in this


“The current plans for state-backed indemnity for GPs in England are conspicuously short on detail”


issue, Professor Chris Burton offers general advice on how to approach patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). He believes that to do so safely requires a balance between firm reassurance and symptom


management while not closing down other diagnostic possibilities too quickly (page 12). Professor Nairn Wilson looks at the opportunities and challenges for dentistry in the shift toward holistic healthcare on page 14. He is calling for strong transformational change to “put the mouth back into the body.” On page 9, Dr Gail Gilmartin urges clinicians


to resist the temptation to alter patient records at a later date as this could lead to serious sanctions down the line, and also on page 20 she considers a common dilemma involving disputed consent between parents over the medical treatment of a child. In her regular ethics column on page 21,


Professor Deborah Bowman offers a personal perspective on patient autonomy and how it is “relational,” predicated on interaction and exchange but also on trust – “the most precious form of connectedness”.


Dr Barry Parker 4 / MDDUS INSIGHT / Q4 2017


MDDUS appoints members to new streamlined board


MDDUS is pleased to welcome two new non-executive directors to our Board – Dr Joanna Bayley and Professor Iain Cameron. Dr Bayley (right) is a GP and


chief executive of the Gloucester GP Consortium, which provides primary care to deprived communities, and of GDoc, the countywide GP provider in Gloucestershire. She is a clinical associate to the New Care Models programme of NHS England and an adviser to the Care Quality Commission. Before becoming a GP, Dr Bayley trained in emergency medicine and intensive


care. She was awarded an MA in medical law and ethics from the University of Manchester and has studied transformational change in healthcare at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. She has a particular interest in clinical governance. Iain Cameron (below) is professor of obstetrics and gynaecology and Dean


of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton. After graduating in medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1980, he underwent postgraduate clinical and research training in Edinburgh, Melbourne and Cambridge. Professor Cameron held the regius chair of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the


University of Glasgow from 1993 and moved to Southampton in 1999. His main clinical and research interests are reproductive endocrinology and investigation of the impact of the maternal environment on early pregnancy. He was chair of the Medical Schools Council from 2013-16 and was appointed as a non-executive director of University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust in 2011.


Our new additions to the Board come as seven members retire – namely


Mr Ian Anderson, Professor Alastair Chambers, Dr Judith Chapman, Professor Hilary Critchley, Dr John Garner, Professor Gillian Needham and Dr Donald Pearson. A decision was made in 2016 to “streamline” the MDDUS Board, which now comprises 14 directors – 12 non-executive and two executive directors. MDDUS chairman Dr Benny Sweeney said: “I would like to acknowledge the dedicated service of our seven retiring Board members. The professionalism, commitment, guidance and integrity that they have collectively contributed across a combined 142 years of service is nothing short of remarkable.”


New GPs benefit from MDDUS and RCGP collaboration


NEWLY qualified GPs in their first five years after qualification are on course to make a combined saving of over £500,000 by the end of this year as a result of the partnership between MDDUS and the RCGP. We have teamed up to offer a tailored indemnity package with a


contribution to RCGP membership fees for those newly qualified GPs who seek the benefits of both organisations. This unique offer is available to new and current members of both the RCGP and MDDUS, with existing members benefiting automatically at their next renewal date. MDDUS Director of Development


David Sturgeon said: “We are delighted that since its launch in April, more than 800 newly qualified First5 GPs have already taken advantage of a 75 per cent contribution to


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