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#GPnews: NHS is ‘under-doctored and overstretched’

Top headlines 

BMA leader: Ministers are trying to undermine trust in doctors

Health checks scheme to be reviewed after falling ‘well short’ of targets

16:10 Elsewhere this afternoon, the RCP president Professor Jane Dacre has told the ’emergency meeting of BMA special representatives’ that the NHS is ‘under-doctored, underfunded and overstretched.’ 

Professor Dacre gave a speech on workload and morale in the NHS, looking at the cuases of poor morale and addressed some potential solutions. 

She added that as a reuslt of there not being enough doctors, there are too many rota gaps in hospitals – and doctors are ‘acting down’ too often. Professor Dacre went on to add that junior doctors also need to feel ‘valued, supported and motivated’ – in a bid to boost morale. 

Today’s BMA conference has been held to discuss the crisis facing the health service.

13:00  Prime Minister David Cameron has said that the ongoing disagreement between the Government and junior doctors over the imposition of a new contract is ‘entirely the creation’ of the BMA. 

In a letter to leading doctors, Mr Cameron added that the BMA ‘made no attempt to compromise’, and had acted ‘unreasonably’, the Telegraph  reports

The PM’s comments come a week after junior doctors staged a full all-out strike, in which they did not provide emergency care. 

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12:05 Also today, speaking at the ’emergency meeting of BMA ‘special representatives’ – the BMA chair has said that Government ministers are trying to undermine trust in doctors and are ‘squandering the morale of decent people’. 

Read Pulse’s full coverage here

11:10 With today’s BMA’s Special Representatives Meeting well under-way in London, it looks as though the teachers’ union TUC could be appraoched over the idea of a ‘national day of action’ to support junior doctors, the BBC’s Hugh Pym has tweeted. 



The BMA’s Special Representatives Meeting has been called to discuss the crisis facing the health service.

9:40  Good morning and welcome to the live blog. 

A major new study has revealed that NHS health checks are having very little impact and are only preventing a very low number of heart attacks or strokes. 

The health checks, which are offered to everyone between the age of 40 and 74, is intended to spot those at risk of cardiovascular disease and help them improve their lifestyle or get medication to keep them healthy. 

However, authors of the new research – carried out by Imperial College London – have found that the NHS health check scheme ‘offers very modest benefits, preventing few heart attacks or strokes and are failing to cut the numbers of people who smoke.’

Read Pulse’s full story here

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