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Practices invited to bid for £5bn voluntary GP contract
GPs face added workload burden as CQC proposes annual practice reports
15:15 A cancer charity has said GPs are leaving patients blind to their increased risk of developing prostate cancer based on family history, reports the Telegraph.
Prostate Cancer UK said its research showed just one in ten GPs were likely to ask patients about family history and offer a PSA blood test.
It said this comes as 91% of GPs being aware of the heightened risk, and two thirds of men being unaware.
The charity’s chief executive Angela Culhane said: ‘Too many men are walking around completely blind to the serious danger they could face. This must change.’
But she did admit that ‘there’s no denying that GPs in the UK today face tremendous pressure to start conversations with patients regarding an ever-growing list of medical conditions’.
12:30 There were somewhat fewer abortions carried out in England and Wales in 2016 compared to 2015, new statistics show – declining from 191,014 to 190,406.
This included 4,810 abortions carried out for women not resident in England and Wales, but this was the lowest number since 1969, according to a Government report.
Abortions for residents of England and Wales remained largely the same, at around 185,000 since 2012. Since 2006 however, the number of abortions reduced by 4.2%.
- The abortion rate in 2016 was highest for women aged 22 (at 27.9 per 1,000).
- And the number of abortions among girls under 16 decreased in 2016 to 1.7 per 1,000 from 2.0 in 2015.
- Among under-18s, the number reduced from 9.9 in 1,000 to 8.9.
Click here for the full report
09:45 Good morning and welcome back to the live blog!
Nurses have been told by their regulator to get in shape and set a good example for their patients, reports the Telegraph.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) said nurses also needed to be fit enough to do their jobs.
Jackie Smith, chief executive of the NMC, said: ‘Nurses need to be have a level of fitness that means they can meet the needs of the patient in front of them…
‘It’s also to some extent about being a role model.’
She admitted tha the topic ‘is an area that generates very lively debate’, adding: ‘It is an area that divides opinion, there is no doubt about that.’
The new rules are out for consultation today, alongside proposals to relax drugs prescribing to enable nurses to do more prescribing under supervision by non-doctor health professionals.
This could also see nurses prescribing within in year of qualification, rather than a current three.
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