News In Brief 29 April 2009

Shock Rose Gibb Court Judgement

Rose Gibb has lost her claim against Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust for breach of contract. 

Ms Gibb was suing the trust for breach of contract after it refused to pay her the full £250,000 pay-off she had originally been offered to leave the trust.

The judge at the High Court ordered her to pay costs.  The trust’s costs alone are expected to be around £90,000.

The judge, Mt Justice Treacy, has also refused Ms Gibb permission to appeal.

Ms Gibb resigned just days before the publication of a damning Healthcare Commission report into outbreaks of C. difficile at the trust that contributed to the deaths of at least 90 people.

In his judgement, Mr Justice Treacy said the trust was acting outside its powers.  It was being ‘irrationally generous’ towards Ms Gibb in wanting to pay her much more than it would legally would have had to.

He found that the non-executives at the trust were personally reluctant to see Ms Gibb depart, not withstanding the findings of the HCC report.  In his view, their personal views clouded their approach, which was one of wishing to be generous to Ms Gibb.

NICE ‘Betrays Thousands’ On Kidney Cancer Drugs

Thousands of kidney cancer patients are likely to lose out on life-prolonging drugs, according to the popular press.

The NHS drug rationing body, NICE, yesterday confirmed a ban on three out of four new treatments.  It has reversed its position on just one, Sutent, which will now be allowed for patients with advanced cancer.

NHS Boards Told To Become Tougher

The Audit Commission said that the lack of rigour at board level was a key factor in the failure of National Health Service organisations.

The Commission commented that boards had all the right processes in place, but they were not asking sufficiently tough questions of the executives who ran NHS hospitals and other organisations.

Roche Ready To Produce Drugs

Roche said yesterday that it was preparing to boost production of Tamiflu if new orders came in.

Meanwhile, Cipla, an Indian generic company, said that it was ready to produce a cheaper equivalent version in large quantities, but was awaiting authorisation from the World Health Organisation.

Scientists In Global Race

A global race to prepare a vaccine against swine flu was under way yesterday, as health officials confirmed that the disease had spread to at least seven countries.

A spokesman for GlaxoSmithKline confirmed that discussions were taking place about a vaccine for swine flu, but refused to elaborate.

The World Health Organisation has also contacted Novartis about its ability to make swine flu vaccine at  its plant in Liverpool.

Pedestrians More At Risk Than Cyclists

London’s air ambulances are treating more critically injured pedestrians than motorists or cyclists according to figures published by the service.

Forty per cent of road traffic collisions last year involve pedestrians compared to eight per cent involving cyclists and 29 per cent involving motorists and car passengers.

Andrew Cameron, chief executive of the London Air Ambulance said the statistics clearly showed that London’s pedestrians faced similar dangers and also needed to observer road safety warnings.
 
Age Of Secrecy Ends As Family Courts Opened To Media Scrutiny

A disturbing case in which a local authority failed to act to take a child into care was belt to be revealed this week, after the ground-breaking decision to admit the media into the family courts came into effect.

The case, set against a background of alleged sexual abuse, revealed how a family managed to slip through the nets of three London councils because they kept moving home and were not known to social services.

Rise In Over-60s Cosmetic Surgery

There has been a significant increase in the number of over-60s having cosmetic surgery and botox, a leading treatment provider has revealed.

According to Tranform, 15 per cent of botox patients are now over the age of 60 and the number of older people choosing to have breast implants or facelifts has risen by a third.

The cosmetic surgery provider believes that the trend is down to recently retired people enjoying more disposable income, as well as the increasing profile of cosmetic surgery and non-surgical treatments.

The number of cosmetic surgery procedures has more than tripled between 2003 and 2008, according to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.

Plea For New Drive To Manage Malaria

Malaria has gone beyond being a health issue and now poses one of the most significant threats to the developing world, a charity has warned.

The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWE M) predicts that one of the side-effects of climate change will be an increase in the number of countries where mosquitoes can survive, spreading the disease to previously unaffected areas.

Nine out of ten malaria deaths occur in sub Saharan Africa where the disease kills one child every 30 seconds.

CIWEM is urging governments and other international organisations to broaden their thinking in regards to the causes and consequences of the disease.  The charity claims that preventative measures are still too narrowly defined, although the need for anti-malarial drugs and mosquito nets remains as high as ever.

So far the climate change aspect of malaria has been missed but countries need to bring together environment and health departments in order to manage malaria, as eradication is no longer on the agenda, said Paul Horton, Director of International Development at CIWEM.

Equality Bill

Lawyers and public sector advisers have reacted with scepticism to the equality bill which will ‘force’ public sector organisations to consider reducing socio-economic inequalities.

Mervyn Kohler, a special adviser with Help the Aged, said it did not look as though the proposal on socio-economic disadvantage had any teeth, even if the Audit Commission were to write a lot of guidance on how public bodies should go about implementing it.

London Bid For 115 Polyclinics By 2011

NHS London is to build 115 polyclinics in the next two years.

The Strategic Health Authority’s board papers for March revealed PCTs in the capital would be forced to speed up polyclinic plans before funding dropped in 2011/12.

The documents show that 115 sites have been identified but ‘given the projected slowdown on NHS funding from 2011/12, NHS London will be encouraging a more rapid implementation plan to maximise use of resources available in 2009-11.

PCTs originally planned for polyclinics to be developed over the next five to ten years, as part of the Health Minister, Lord Darzi’s Healthcare for London review.

HbA1C Reporting Change Delayed

Implementation of changes to how HbA1c measurements are reported has been put back by two months.

Measurements will switch to being reported in mmol/mol rather than percentages, giving a greater numerical values.

The changes are now due to take place on 1 June, Diabetes UK has said.  Implementation had been planned for 1 April.

Laboratories will initially give results in both units, said Diabetes UK care adviser, Pav Kalsi, to help make the transition as easy a possible.  All HbA1c results will be given in both percentage and mmol/mol until 31 May 2011.

CQC Not Afraid Of Nuclear Option

The Care Quality Commission already know which NHS services are likely to require action to ensure patient safety, the regulator’s chair has said.

The new body has power to close wards or issue public warnings if it feels safety is at risk.

Speaking at a King’s Fund debate last week, Baroness Young said that ministers had told her a mark of the body’s success would be that it never had to use its full powers.  However, she added that they would use the ‘nuclear option’ because she could predict places where it would be necessary.

Baroness Young stressed she wanted to work with clinicians and managers, and to help the spread of good practice instead of just attacking mistakes.

DIY Test Facilities Cutting Out GPs

The rise of new technologies such as genetic testing and whole body imaging are cutting out GPs from healthcare, experts have warned.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has launched a consultation into services aimed at the public that look to bypass the input of GPs.

Lead researcher, Professor Christopher Hood from the University of Oxford, said that cutting out GPs might sometimes be a good thing, providing convenience, privacy and patient control over health, but there was not much regulation of these new services and patients might be getting information that caused more harm than good.

GPs Forecast To Turn Their Backs On PMS

According to medical accountants, GPs will turn their backs on PMS contracts if GMS funding continued to rise for another three years.

In three to five years, there would be little perceptible benefit to locally negotiated contracts and GPs would return to GMS once the global sum had risen sufficiently to make MPIG unnecessary, Bob Senior, vice chairman of the Association of Independent Specialist Medical Accountants, commented.

Earlier this month, Department of Health Director of Primary Care, Ben Dyson, advised PCTs to limit PMS pay rises to 0.7 per cent, in line with the rise for GMS practices with large MPIGs.

More than 47 per cent of GPs worked under PMS contracts in 2007/8, according to NHS Information Centre figures.