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Welcome News


NEW GMC ASSESSMENT CENTRE FOR OVERSEAS


Welcome to your


SOCIAL prescribing in general practice seems to come in all varieties now – from Parkrun to bird watching – and the benefits do seem obvious for those who choose to engage. On page 12 we hear about an innovative GP garden project helping patients in Lambeth, south London. My article on page 5 gives


some practical advice on dealing with so-called ‘soul and conscience’ letters for patients wanting to be excused from jury duty or a court appearance as a witness. It’s an area in which GPs should tread carefully. No one likes to give or receive criticism, but failing to speak up can threaten patient safety. On page 10 senior risk adviser Liz Price offers a constructive approach. Do you have a special interest in OB/GYN? Dr Roopinder Brar gives her perspective as a portfolio GP with an interest in


the specialty on page 8. And on page 4 we feature an extract from Tools of the Trade – a poetry book given free to Scottish medical graduates but also proving popular among doctors of all ages. Almost every professional can


describe feeling like a fraud at work at some point in their career. Allan Gaw offers a helpful way of dealing with ‘imposter syndrome’ on page 6. And on page 7 Liz Price highlights new research suggesting a link between reduced wellbeing of clinicians and patient safety risks in primary care. Finally, our case study on


page 14 involves a dance floor injury that seems minor on first examination but proves less so for the GP involved.


• Dr Susan Gibson-Smith Editor


DOCTORS OVERSEAS doctors wanting to practise in the UK will now undergo a “rigorous half-day assessment” of practical skills at a new £2.5m GMC test centre in Manchester. The centre opened on 6 August and the GMC expected that by the


end of the month more than 1,000 doctors would have undertaken the assessment. It is comprised of two practical skills circuits, catering for up to 18 candidates at a time, and features scenarios to test doctors to make sure they are competent and able to treat patients safely. Jane Durkin, the GMC’s Assistant Director of Registration, said the


regulator was committed to supporting overseas doctors through the registration process, adding: “It is also vital that doctors coming to work in the UK meet the high standards we require and that patients rightly expect. This is a series of robust and rigorous tests that assess doctors’ clinical skills.” Most doctors qualifying outside the European Economic Area are


required to pass the two-part Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) exam before they can apply for registration and a licence to practise medicine in the UK.


MAJORITY OF BRITS THINK EDITOR: Dr Susan Gibson-Smith


MANAGING EDITOR: Joanne Curran


ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Jim Killgore


DESIGN: Connect Communications www.connectmedia.cc


PRINT: 21 Colour


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


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


A&E OVERUSED MORE than 85 per cent of the UK population believe that A&E services are overused, while just over half agree that it is hard to get a GP appointment. Figures from the most recent British Social Attitudes Survey reveal a clear majority (86 per cent) of the population think that too many people use A&E services unnecessarily. This increases to 94 per cent for people aged 65 to 74. Just under a third said they had accessed A&E services at least once in the previous 12 months for themselves or others, with the figure rising to 54 per cent among parents with a child under age five. A surprising proportion (17 per cent) of UK patients prefer A&Es to GP


surgeries because they can get tests done quickly, and the figure rises to 29 per cent in the most deprived areas. In terms of digital resources, 58 per cent of people with internet


GPst 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 GPst are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland.


access said they research health problems online. People aged 18 to 24 are twice as likely (62 per cent) to do so than those aged 75 and over (30 per cent). Ruth Thorlby, Assistant Director of Policy at the Health Foundation, said: “It is notable that those in the poorest areas report greater problems [in accessing general practice]. Our analysis found that a GP in the most deprived areas will be responsible for 370 more patients than one working in the least deprived.” She called for a solution that tackles the inequalities in primary care.


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