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#GPnews: Terror response junior GP commended by BMA

16:15 Dr Jeeves Wijesuriya, the first doctor on the scene of the Westminster terror attack, has been added to the BMA’s ‘Book of Valour’.

The GP trainee, who heads up the BMA Junior Doctor Committee, said he was ‘humbled and proud’.

15:30 Almost a quarter of women who failed to have their regular smear test were unaware of the test’s existence, according to a new study.

University College London researchers concluded new ways of reaching elibible women are needed, reports the BBC.

Study lead Dr Jo Waller said: ‘The results around lack of awareness suggest that campaigns using TV, radio, social media or face-to-face visits may be better… than relying on letters in the post, which is the current method.

11:15 Age UK has said that the revelations of Pulse’s investigation into safeguarding are ‘truly frightening’.

As we report today, and on this month’s Pulse cover, GP pleas to safeguard patients from abuse are falling on deaf ears as social care services are ‘disintegrating’.

After the Telegraph picked up the story this morning, Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK, said: ‘Truly these are frightening findings. You would expect any referral to social services from a GP to be seen as a top priority.

‘The fact that approaching two thirds of GPs are reporting the response back was inadequate tells you all you need to know about the enormous pressures on our underfunded social care system.’

10:40 A National Audit Office (NAO) report has directed some strong criticism against the Government for its handling of mental health in prisons.

The report said: ‘The Government does not know how many people in prison have a mental illness, how much it is spending on mental health in prisons or whether it is achieving its objectives.

‘It is therefore hard to see how Government can be achieving value for money in its efforts to improve the mental health and well being of prisoners. In 2016 there were 40,161 incidents of self-harm in prisons and 120 self-inflicted deaths.’

09:35 A joint report from NICE and Public Health England has called for a ban on parents waiting outside schools with their car engines on.

They said this would help cut air pollution, which is estimated to prematurely kill some 40,000 people a year in the UK, reports the Guardian.

The health bodies also want ‘clean air zones’ in towns, into which heavily polluting vehicles would not be allowed.

NICE guideline committee chair Professor Paul Lincoln said: ‘Air pollution is a major risk to our health, and so far suggested measures have not managed to tackle the problem sufficiently.’