Doctors get sick too

Wales’ Auditor General report out today on staff sickness levels in the NHS makes for interesting reading for BMA members. It says it’s still a “significant problem”, even though some improvements have been made.

Since April 2004, time off work because of ill health has averaged out at 14 working days per year for an NHS trust worker. This is down on the previous two years, when the average rate was just over 15-and-a-half working days per year.

I don’t think it should come as any surprise that sickness levels by NHS staff are higher than in other professions. After all, they are coming into contact with various different kinds of illnesses constantly. Those with the strongest immune systems are going to succumb at some point!

Of course, we’re not just talking about physical ill health here either. “Sickness” can cover all kinds of ailments, including stress. And again, it’s hardly surprising if staff working in NHS trusts experience more incidents of stress than other sectors, considering the very stressful situations medics are faced with on a daily basis. Then you have to add to that the fact that occupational health services are found wanting in many parts of the NHS.

That’s exactly why the BMA is calling for a national roll-out of the Primary Care Support Service, as part of our consultation response to the proposed reforms of the Welsh NHS. The PCSS is currently the only occupational health service available to clinicians and disappointingly, isn’t on offer in all parts of Wales. Even the Auditor General, in his new report, highlights the need to improve occupational health services for NHS staff. If that happens, then maybe we really will start to see a dramatic fall in the number of sick days taken by employees looking after the health of everyone else.

Kicking domestic abuse into touch during the Six Nations

I’d like to commend the Wales rugby team for getting involved in the latest initiative around domestic abuse and highlighting the very real and negative consequences that can stem from our national game. Members of our Six Nations squad faced a press conference yesterday to talk about how big a problem violence in the home can become, during the championship.

It is important that sports stars give their backing to issues like this, as often the perpetrators of the abuse would no doubt look up to and perhaps take notice of a message of intolerance from Welsh rugby players, more so anyway, than others, such as the police, charities or politcians. Let’s hope it goes some way towards tackling the problem.

Information about Eligibility for Inclusion on the GMC Specialist Register: restoration of the Existing Specialist Route

Below are the contents of a letter from the GMC about its Specialist Register and the restoration of the Existing Specialist Route. The BMA is trying to circulate this to members as widely as possible, as I am aware that some members may not know about this or have been “caught out” previously.

Eligibility for Inclusion on the GMC Specialist Register: restoration of the Existing Specialist Route

Since 1 January 1997 it has been a legal requirement that, in order to take up -as opposed to continuing to be employed in -a consultant post (other than a locum
consultant appointment) in a medical or surgical specialty in the UK health service, a doctor must be included in the GMC's Specialist Register.

When the legislation was introduced to create the Specialist Register, those who were already consultants were entitled to apply for specialist registration by virtue of their status as 'existing specialists'. However, later legislation introduced in 2003 prevented those who had not already applied as 'existing specialists' from doing so without being able to demonstrate that their past specialist training and/or qualifications met the present standards required for the award of a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT).

This mechanism was never intended for established senior consultants who are already in post and quickly proved to be inappropriate for specialists whose training had been undertaken so long ago. These changes in legislation have left a small number of consultants in a position where they are either unable to move posts or with a straightforward means to have their names included in the Specialist Register.

Earlier this year the Government consulted on proposals to amend the relevant legislation which would enable the restoration of the existing specialist route; Parliament has now agreed this change and the GMC has consulted on a scheme for the registration of persons who were consultants before 1 January 1997.

The scheme will come into force on 2 March. If you are aware of any consultants (other than locums) who were appointed in the National Health Service or the Armed Forces on or before 1 January 1997, who are not currently included in the Specialist Register, we would be grateful if you could draw their attention to the scheme,

Expressions of interest in taking advantage of the scheme can be made by emailing the GMC at pre1997scheme@gmc-uk.org.

Cancer drugs decision is a step in the right direction

The news in today’s Western Mail that our Health Minister’s telling all Local Health Boards in Wales to fund four kidney cancer drugs is a welcome move and should hopefully provide some comfort to families in desperate need of the medication.

The drugs in question are Sutent, Nexavar, Avastin and Torisel, which haven’t yet been approved by Nice for use in the NHS, because official guidance has been delayed, once again, until March. It seems Edwina Hart has decided families, who’ve campaigned for a long time to get funding for the drugs on the NHS, have waited long enough. It should put an end to a post-code lottery situation which seems to have been allowed to develop, where some patients living in certain parts of Wales have had requests for Sutent accepted, while others in others areas have had theirs turned down.

It should be pointed out that this decision by Edwina Hart is only a temporary measure until guidance comes into force from Nice. Let’s hope LHBs now roll out this important change as soon as possible, with many patients already having experienced enough of a delay in treatment.

Welsh NHS hospital buildings – "not so safe as houses"

Worrying news from the Welsh Liberal Democrats today. They’ve uncovered figures which apparently show a half a billion pound repair and maintenance bill to get NHS hospital buildings in Wales to an adequate safety level. Perhaps what’s even more of a concern is the fact that some of these safety targets were set back in 2002. So, for the past 7 years, many of our members have no doubt been working in premises which don’t meet basic health and safety regulations.

No one can deny the fact that NHS staff working in hospitals do extremely important jobs and deal with often very stressful situations. So surely the least they deserve is to have buildings that are fit for purpose, rather than having the added worry about their own health and safety when just going about their daily routines.

Let’s also not forget about the patient here too. If essential maintenance and repairs isn’t being carried out on hospital buildings, then anyone needing treatment in one is undoubtedly having their health and safety put at risk too. This really is an unacceptable situation, both for our members and the public and I urge the WAG to do something about it, now.