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#GPnews: Just two soft drinks a day raises type-2 diabetes risk, study claims

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14:00 The RCGP has launched a ‘mythbuster’ to help GPs better understand the processes for revalidation and appraisal.

The RCGP said that the mythbuster, available here, aims to make the processes ‘worthwhile and valuable for individual GPs, their appraisers and responsible officers’ ‘highlight the best ways for GPs to record and demonstrate their supporting information in the most reasonable and proportionate way so as to not detract them from frontline patient care’; and ‘demonstrate how appraisers can provide encouragement and support to GPs throughout the processes of appraisal and revalidation’.

Dr Susi Caesar, RCGP medical director for revalidation, said: ‘Some of our members are telling us that there is still some confusion around revalidation and appraisals.

‘The two processes are separate but linked and both are vital, not only for maintaining a GP’s knowledge and skills but also for developing them throughout their career.

‘This guide has been written to provide extra clarification for individual GPs, appraisers and responsible officers.

‘We hope it will help to clear up any misconceptions our colleagues may have – and encourage College members to provide feedback, and request further detail if necessary, to keep it current.’

11:45 Elsewhere this morning, a report by the BBC suggests that ‘thousands of pharmacies could face closure’ after new plans announced by Government to shake up the funding system and impose a raft of new cuts. 

The DH said it wanted to cut the £2.8bn annual pharmacy bill by more than £200m over the next couple of years – and it has subsequently been suggested cuts on this scale could lead to up to 3,000 of the 11,700 pharmacies shutting down. 

Health minister David Mowat said the current system was not the best use of ‘valuable’ NHS resources’ adding: ‘Far from jeopardising services, our modernisation package will help improve them.’

But Sandra Gidley, of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: ‘We fear for patients, the public and pharmacists who may be significantly affected by changes in opening hours and staffing levels in community pharmacy, as well as the knock on impact on already pressured GP and A&E NHS care.’

09:30 A person has to drink just two sugary – or artificially sweeteneded – drinks a day to increase their risk of developing type-2 diabetes, a study has found.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, who followed 2,874 adults comparing them based on their consumption, said they were now looking at a larger sample from across Europe to expand the research, reports the Guardian.

Study author Dr Josefin Edwall Lofvenborg said: ’In this study we were surprised by the increased risk in developing autoimmune diabetes by drinking soft drinks. We next plan on investigating what could counter this risk, such as eating fatty fish.’


          

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