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GPs ‘hit the jackpot’ by working for A&E, strict diet can reverse diabetes and obesity surgery warning

The Express has news that GPs could help millions of patients with Type 2 diabetes reverse their condition through a strict diet of 800 calories per day. The study that has been tested on 11 patients (yes, you read that right) is part of a new £2.4m medical trial of almost 300 people with obesity-induced diabetes.

Professor Roy Taylor, of Newcastle University, who led the study, told the newspaper: ‘The new study is to see whether GPs can use this approach to reverse diabetes in their patients and whether it will stay reversed. The evidence is that it will, but we need a large-scale trial to prove that it works.’ Er, yes you might.

Elsewhere, we have news from the Daily Mail that GPs are being employed by A&E departments to help with soaring numbers of patients. Most would welcome this as evidence of the NHS pulling together to get itself out of a crisis, oh but not the Mail. They say that GPs have ‘hit jackpot’ (sic) by ‘moonlighting’ at A&E departments and getting £1,500 a shift. Sigh.

Lastly, the Guardian are updating a story that we brought you last year that a lack of obesity services mean that patients are being prevented from being referred for obesity surgery.

Richard Welbourn, president of the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society, told the newspaper: ‘We know bariatric surgery is very effective and saves money in the long term. We need to have clarity from NHS England about who is going to be paying for access to surgery.’