Half of PCTs fail to reimburse GP maternity costs in full

Exclusive: Almost half of PCTs are failing to pay practices the full recommended contribution for locum cover when women GPs go on maternity leave, a Pulse investigation reveals.

10 August 2010

PCTs to scale back vascular screening plans

Exclusive: More than half of PCTs in England are considering scaling back their vascular screening programmes by switching from population-wide screening to schemes targeting at-risk groups, a Pulse investigation reveals.

10 August 2010

RCGP chair calls for end to nanny state

RCGP chair, Professor Steve Field, has launched an outspoken attack on the public for bringing upon themselves a ‘tsunami’ of obesity.

09 August 2010

Primary prevention cardiovascular indicator planned for QOF

Exclusive: NICE wants to push and pilot a QOF incentive for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease – despite recent research suggesting statins do not reduce mortality in people at increased cardiovascular risk.

09 August 2010

Doctor dies in Afghanistan; consultant convicted over death certificates and why asthma inhalers may be linked with prostate cancer

Our roundup of health news headlines on Monday 9 August.

09 August 2010

Extended hours set to disappear as PCTs review funding

Almost two-thirds of GPs offering extended hours will stop next year if PCTs remove funding, with over half of trusts considering withdrawing local funding in light of the Government’s scrapping of national access targets, Pulse can reveal.

09 August 2010

GMC invites evidence from GPs on their child protection role

GPs are being asked to provide evidence of problems or concerns they encounter relating to child protection, in order to help the GMC formulate new guidance on the ‘difficult and sensitive’ area of work.

09 August 2010

NICE committee raises QOF HbA1c target

NICE has raised the QOF HbA1c target in patients with type 2 diabetes up to 7.5% from 7% - conceding that there is sufficient ‘uncertainty’ about patient safety to justify the move.

06 August 2010

NICE mulls change to QOF blood pressure targets

Blood pressure targets in the quality and outcomes framework could be set to change as NICE seeks to align the targets with its own guidance, Pulse can reveal.

06 August 2010

Revealed: The 30-year contract with Care UK that GP commissioners will have to honour

NHS managers have saddled GP commissioners with a 30-year contract with a private firm after controversially paying it more than £8m for a building it owned - and then leasing it straight back.

06 August 2010