#GPnews: NHS England to take ‘immediate steps’ to implement GP Forward View

15:55 NHS England’s move to address spiralling indemnity costs continue to receive a cautious reception from the GP profession.

One GP and long-time campaigner against rising indemnity fees, Dr Preeti Shukla, argued on Twitter this afternoon that sessional GPs should be supported with paying indemnity fees as well. 

Indemnity cripples all GP’s @NHSEngland .Why the exclusion of sessionals? @BMA_GP @cgps_gp https://t.co/tG7MkOhaV7

— Preeti (@drpshukla) July 28, 2016

It comes after NHS England announced earlier today that it would introduce a £60m Indemnity Support Scheme for GPs to compensate the costs of inflationary increases in insurances costs.

Read Pulse’s full coverage here

14:30 Reaction to today’s announcements are coming in. Most notably, Dr Maureen Baker, RCGP, said: ‘When the GP Forward View was launched in April, NHS Chief Executive Simon Stevens said that general practice is “arguably the most important job in the NHS”. This was much-needed recognition of the importance of our profession, and the workforce and resource pressures we are under.

‘Three months on, we are starting to get firm commitments of real money to help those practices most in need, and investment to address universal issues affecting GPs, such as soaring indemnity costs.

‘Our immediate priority must be to make sure that the money from the resilience programme is spent in the right way and delivers practical help to practices – and their patients – fast.

‘It’s clear there is a long way to go in order to get GPs and their teams the support and resources needed to deliver 90% of all NHS patient contacts in a safe and sustainable way. But the developments announced today promise to make a tangible impact on general practice, and the care we can provide to our patients.

‘We will continue to work with NHS England and others to ensure the rest of the 108 pledges made in the GP Forward View are implemented as a matter of urgency and that the promised extra investment reaches practices quickly; this is in the best interests of our profession, the wider NHS, and most importantly our patients.’

12:35  NHS England has today announced that it will be taking forward plans outlined in the General Practice Forward View – the five year programme that aims to put the profession on a ‘sustainable footing for the future’. 

At an NHS England public meeting this morning, the board agreed to implement a package of immediate actions to ease the pressure on general practice. 

11:45  A trial of a new pill to prevent the deterioration of the brain in Alzheimer’s patients has shown positive signs of working. 

Scientists said that the mental decrease of patients in the final stage trial of the drug, called LMTX, had been halted for 18 months. 

The Telegraph reports that patients had no weakening of their memory over the 18 months they were taking the drug – while their ability to carry out normal day-to-day tasks remained the same. 

Dr Serge Gauthier, of McGill University, presented the results to the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto.

He added: ‘This is the first time it has happened in our field that a drug reduces the rate of brain atrophy. 

‘In a field that has been plagued by consistent failures of novel drug candidates in late-stage clinical trials, and where there has been no practical therapeutic advance for over a decade, I am excited about the promise of LMTX as a potential new treatment option for these patients.’ 

9:50 BMA chair Dr Mark Porter has attacked a recent decision by French authorities to prevent aid convoys from entering the refugee camps in Calais. 

In an open letter, Dr Porter said the move to stop aid workers from delivering ‘basic supplies’ was a ‘breach of human rights’. 

@TheBMA addressing the plight of #refugees in #Calaispic.twitter.com/GoVdFg0jhS

— Taha (@TAHASTWEETS) July 23, 2016