Strengthening Family Doctor Services

4 May 2008 10:20 Africa/Lagos


Strengthening family doctor services

London, 4 May/GNN/ --

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH News Release (2008/0053) issued by The Government News
Network on 4 May 2008

PLEASE NOTE EMBARGO
Not for publication or broadcast before
0001 hours Monday 5 May 2008

New GP practices for under served areas and new proposals for £105 million
investment set out

Health Secretary Alan Johnson today (Monday) underlined the Government's
commitment to improving family doctor services alongside further plans to
tackle long-standing inequalities in GP provision.

Twelve new GP practices will be set up in some of the more poorly served
areas in England. A consultation will also shortly be launched with the BMA
on a proposed £105 million investment in existing GP practices to further
expand clinical services and to improve access for patients, as well as the
implementation of the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body annual recommendations
for GP pay.

New GP Practices

The twelve Primary Care Trusts benefitting from a new GP practice will
each receive over £1.1m by 2010/11 as their share of the £250m access fund
announced last autumn, to fund at least 100 new GP practices in the most
deprived areas and 152 GP-led health centres.

Areas with the fewest GPs have poorer general health and greater
deprivation. Some areas only have 43 GPs per 100,000 people compared to 88
GPs per 100,000 people in areas with the best coverage.

The new practices announced today will increase family doctor capacity in
places that need it most and offer a range of innovative services such
as extended opening hours and extended practice catchment areas as well
as increased choice of GP practices for patients and reduced pressure on
existing GP practices.

The first practices are expected to be open to patients in less than a year's
time. Primary Care Trusts will work with clinicians and the public to develop
patient services that reflect local needs and then look to potential providers
to come forward with innovative proposals for the new practices.

Consultation on investment in access and clinical services

We will also be consulting on proposals to invest an extra £105 million in
family doctor services to improve clinical services and care to patients,
deliver better access and improve the responsiveness of GP services, and
implement the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body annual recommendations for
GP pay.

The proposals in the consultation will be to invest around £50 million in
additional clinical services and to make available around a further £50
million for Primary Care Trusts to invest locally in improving access and
responsiveness of GP services for patients - including extended opening
hours and improvements to Surgery premises, or supporting practices that
are expanding to provide increased choice for local patients.

The proposals involve investment in a range of enhanced patient services:

* New measures to tackle heart failure;

* Spreading best practice on osteoporosis treatment;

* Annual health checks for people with severe learning disabilities;

* Better data recording to help improve patient care for people from black
and minority ethnic groups; and

* Increased support to overcome harmful drinking.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson said:

"There has been some recent scaremongering about the future of GP
practices. Today's announcement shows we are not only committed to Britain's
excellent family doctor system, but also to expanding it, encouraging GPs
to provide more services, closer to where people live, so they don't have
to make so many unnecessary trips to hospital.

"The 152 health centres we are opening in towns and cities are funded with
new money and will sit alongside traditional general practice as an option
for patients who want very easy evening and weekend access to their GP.

"Improving access to primary care is also a key priority if we are to deliver
more personalised care that meets the needs of individuals and communities,
especially those in more disadvantaged or deprived areas. Evidence shows
there is a direct link between low numbers of GP surgeries and poor health
within a community.

"This is not just about building extra primary care capacity but developing
high-quality, responsive services with a strong focus on prevention. This is
a great opportunity for entrepreneurial GPs as well as social enterprises,
voluntary organisations and the independent sector to develop innovative
services for patients."

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The full list of Primary Care Trusts (PCT) benefitting from an additional GP
practice is: Rotherham, Enfield, Bury, South Birmingham, Telford and Wrekin,
Newham, Gateshead, Coventry Teaching, Bristol, North Somerset, Middlesbrough
and East Lancashire.

2. The PCTs were identified using a calculation derived from Lord Darzi's
interim report as part of his Next Stage Review of the NHS.

3. In Lord Darzi's interim report as part of his Next Stage Review of the
NHS, the Department of Health announced at least 100 new GP practices will
be targeted in the 38 PCTs with the poorest GP provision.

4. The Doctors and Dentists Review Body recommendations for 2008/09 saw an
increase of 2.7% in payments to GP practices for providing core services
known as the Global Sum. Taking account of the cost of expenses and the
planned impact to correct factor payments would equate to a 0.2% increase
in GP earnings.

5. The broad framework of changes to the GP contract was agreed between
NHS Employers and the GPC of the BMA on 3 April The changes include the
additional 1.5% investment in primary care (£105 million), extended opening of
GP practices, a small number of changes to the Quality and Outcomes Framework
and the continuation of the IM&T Directed Enhanced Service for a further year.

6. Last year the Government made it a priority to improve access to GP
services. Following changes recently agreed with the BMA, the NHS is now
working with GPs to give patients the opportunity to see their family doctor
at weekends or in the evening. On average, GP practices that take up the new
arrangements will be open for an extra three hours each week, at times that
reflect the needs and wishes of their patients.

7. Examples of innovation and best practice in primary care from around
the country are available by contacting the Department of Health press
office. Media enquires should be directed to the Department of Health press
office on 070500735811

[ENDS]



Source: Department of Health

Black Enterprise Unveils America's Leading Doctors

In May's BLACK ENTERPRISE: "America's Leading Doctors." Cardiologist Jennifer H. Mieres, neurosurgeon Keith L. Black and pediatrician Kevin B. Johnson have saved hundreds through revolutionary treatments and quality care. Plus: Recession Proof Investments and How To Fight Your Insurance Company -- And Win. (PRNewsFoto/BLACK ENTERPRISE) NEW YORK, NY UNITED STATES 05/01/2008

1 May 2008 18:27 Africa/Lagos


Black Enterprise Unveils America's Leading Doctors

May 2008 Special Report Highlights 140 Doctors Changing the Face of Medicine

NEW YORK, May 1 /PRNewswire/ --

The May issue of BLACK ENTERPRISE (BE) unveils its 2008 report on the best and brightest in medicine. In "America's Leading Doctors," BE names 140 top-notch physicians responsible for saving millions of lives through the revolutionary treatment of diseases, from cancer and diabetes to heart attacks and HIV/AIDS. Many of these doctors have been responsible for major medical breakthroughs and have participated in the creation of drugs that have vastly improved the quality of life for patients.


(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080501/NYTH109 )


BE developed its May cover package at a time when African Americans continue to contend with an ever-widening gap in the quality of available healthcare. Some of the factors that contribute to this escalating crisis include lack of access to services and the alarmingly high cost of adequate care. Meanwhile, the proportion of the nation's black doctors has remained stagnant. African Americans make up 13.4% of the total U.S. population but only 5.6% of all U.S. physicians and surgeons -- 44,900 out of 888,000. Even fewer black doctors are in positions of power and leadership. Just under a dozen serve as chairs of departments at the nation's medical schools.


"A consistent objective of BLACK ENTERPRISE is to communicate that without investing in the quality of our health and that of our families and communities, it is all but impossible to create sustainable, multigenerational wealth," says Founder and Publisher Earl G. Graves Sr. "The life of my father was cut short at the age of 46 by a heart condition that was likely both preventable and treatable. The exceptional black physicians we highlight uniquely understand the medical issues that confront African Americans. Their expertise makes them an essential part of the solution to the healthcare crisis facing black Americans and our entire nation."


The cover features New York University School of Medicine Cardiologist Jennifer H. Mieres, Cedars-Sinai Neurosurgery Chair Keith L. Black, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center Pediatrician Kevin B. Johnson. What sets this year's list apart from our previous lists, published in 1998 and 2001, is a stronger weighting of innovators involved in medical breakthroughs among specialties. The editors spent more than six months engaged in research, consulting organizations such as the National Medical Association, American Medical Association, Association of Black Cardiologists, American Cancer Society, Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, American Diabetes Association, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. BE also contacted top-ranked physicians as well as the nation's leading medical schools, including Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Meharry Medical College, Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and Mayo Medical School.


The complete "America's Leading Doctors" feature story is available in the May 2008 issue of black enterprise on newsstands now.


BLACK ENTERPRISE, your ultimate source for wealth creation, is the premier business, investing, and wealth-building resource for African Americans. Since 1970, BE has provided essential business information and advice to professionals, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and decision makers. Every month, BLACK ENTERPRISE magazine provides 3.9 million readers with information on entrepreneurship, careers, and financial management. A multimedia company, BE also produces radio and television programming, business and lifestyle events, Web content, and digital media. BLACK ENTERPRISE is the definitive source of information for and about African American business markets and leaders, and the authority on black business news and trends.


Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080501/NYTH109
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: BLACK ENTERPRISE

CONTACT: Andrew P. Wadium of Earl G. Graves Publishing Co.,
+1-212-886-9598, wadiuma@blackenterprise.com


Web site: Black Enterprise Magazine