The CQC’s new ‘intelligent monitoring’ process is all over the news this morning, with alarming headlines such as the Guardian’s declaring ‘one in six GP surgeries is at risk of offering poor care’.
The paper does note the CQC’s assertion that risk ratings are ‘not judgements’, which will only happen after inspection.
But Dr GPC deputy chair Dr Richard Vautrey said: ‘Publishing data with no context about a GP practice before inspectors have even arrived will at best confuse patients and at worst mislead them.’
You can read Pulse’s coverage of the CQC risk ratings here.
The BBC has news that the health ombudsman is ‘failing families’, with claims from the Patients Association that it receives weekly calls from patients saying they feel let down by the service.
And finally, scientists have found a chemical in toothpaste may cause cancer, reports The Telegraph.
The researchers found the antibacterial triclosan – also found in liquid soaps and other household products – caused liver tumours in mice.
However, the team conceded that the mice were exposed to much higher levels of triclosan than humans would usually be.
Commenting on the study Dr Nick Plant, reader in Molecular Toxicology at the University of Surrey, told the paper: ‘It is not valid to state that the effect of triclosan in mice will occur in humans as well, indeed the historical body of evidence suggests a species-dependent effect is more likely.
‘However, as with all new signals, it is important to examine them and decide if they are biologically plausible in the species of concern. I would treat this paper as interesting, but would not see it as the basis for a shift in triclosan use at present.’
