Jacqui Wise

The BMA will not escalate collective action by GP members this month.This is to give its new GP negotiating team time to meet the new ministerial team to try to strike an agreement about investment in general practice, the union said.In March, GPs in England voted by 99% to reject the government’s imposed changes to their contract for 2026-27.1As a result, the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee for England (GPCE) launched collective action with a new form of action announced …

A cancelled scheme allowing doctors from overseas to train in the NHS could be given a second lease of life.Medical colleges are in talks to develop a successor to the now scrapped Medical Training Initiative (MTI).Under the “earn, learn, and return” scheme, overseas doctors were allowed to train in the NHS for up to two years.Starting in 2009, the MTI helped boost staff numbers in the NHS while upskilling overseas doctors who could improve healthcare in their home nation on their return.But the MFI was cancelled by NHS England earlier this year.However, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has told The BMJ it was now working to develop a “successor” scheme.“The medical royal colleges are working hard to find ways to develop a successor scheme which can deliver all the benefits of the original …

About 200 newly qualified doctors in England will take part in pilot programmes aiming to end the “absurd” rotation system that results in them having to change hospitals several times a year.Reform of the rotation system was part of the deal that ended resident doctors’ industrial action in 2024.12The pilots will reduce the geographical size of the rotation area, keeping doctors in the same hospital trust where possible, and will make rotations longer and less frequent.3 The aim is for newly qualified doctors to enjoy the benefits of more stable training.Rotations are considered a key part of newly qualified doctors’ training, enabling them to gain diverse experience for their career. But doctors often receive …

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the General Medical Council does not owe a duty of care to doctors during investigations of their fitness to practise.The highest court in England and Wales dismissed an appeal brought by the family of Sridharan Suresh.Suresh, an anaesthetist, took his own life within hours of being informed that the GMC had opened an investigation into his fitness to practise.1Doctors’ groups such as the BMA say the judgment, handed down on 24 July, raises questions about the support offered to doctors under investigation by employers and professional regulators. The union also added that the decision will deepen doctors’ distrust in the GMC.Suresh was described by Lord Justice Bean during the appeal hearing as “a consultant anaesthetist with a distinguished and unblemished professional record.” He was employed by the former North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust and was working at the University Hospital of North Tees, as well as working privately.In March 2018 a complaint was made to the police of an alleged sexual assault on a teenage girl while she was sedated during a private operation at the Grace Dental Practice. Suresh strongly …

Only a quarter of adults with a diagnosed eating disorder are referred by their GP for specialist services, a study shows.Published in Lancet Primary Care , the research also found that family doctors were less likely to refer patients to a specialist if they were not underweight.1The study authors, from King’s College London, say that GPs need more education about eating disorder presentations and should not rely on body mass index (BMI) alone when deciding about referrals.The researchers analysed health records in England and Northern Ireland from 2010 to 2023 from 35 404 adults who had at least one eating disorder diagnosis recorded. Of these, 26 822 (76%) did not get an eating disorder referral.Patients with anorexia nervosa who were clinically underweight—defined as a BMI below 18.5—were four times as likely to be referred to specialist care as those who were not below this threshold (odds ratio 4.05 (95% confidence interval 3.54 to 4.63); P<0.001).The study also found that people with bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorders, or other …

A tetanus-diphtheria vaccine that can be stored at room temperature has shown promising early results in a development hailed as a potential “game changer” for global health.Maintaining the cold chain for vaccines is a significant challenge in resource poor countries, remote communities, and regions affected by conflict.About half of vaccines are wasted worldwide each year because of temperature changes during storage and transport, the World Health Organization has estimated.The SPVX02 vaccine—developed by the UK based biotech company Stablepharma with support from UK Research and Innovation—aims to help change that. It is a reformulated, thermostable version of an existing tetanus-diphtheria vaccine called Tetadif, which requires refrigeration.In a phase 1 study of the new jab 60 healthy adult volunteers were randomly assigned to receive the experimental vaccine or one of two licenced tetanus-diphtheria …

A new daily GLP-1 pill, orforglipron (marketed as Foundayo), has been approved by the UK’s drug regulator for weight management and type 2 diabetes.The UK is the first country in Europe to approve this glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist developed by Eli Lilly.The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) authorised orforglipron for weight loss and weight maintenance in adults in the UK with a BMI of 30 or above or a BMI of between 27 and 30 and at least one weight related comorbidity.1The drug is also authorised to improve glycaemic control in patients with insufficiently controlled type 2 diabetes.The decision means orforglipron will be available with a private prescription in the UK, but the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) …

Stories linking glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) weight loss drugs to hundreds of deaths and thousands of adverse events have appeared in the UK media in the past few weeks.The Times reported on 5 August that patients taking weight loss medication in the UK had filed about 150 000 reports of adverse side effects to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), with more than 100 deaths potentially linked to the drugs.1The Independent stated that more than 150 deaths had been linked to weight loss jabs,2 whereas Sky News put the figure at more than 200 deaths.3Just last month a coroner said that a GLP-1 agonist had contributed to the death of Paula Owen, aged 66, in Plymouth on 23 July.4 The Devon and Plymouth coroner, Philip Spinney, said that a GLP agonist that Owen was taking for weight loss had contributed to her death from acute pancreatitis. A full inquest is due to take place later.Owen’s case follows that of Susan McGowan, who is believed to be the only confirmed named fatality officially linked to a GLP-1 weight loss drug in the UK so far. The 58 year old nurse from North Lanarkshire died in September 2024. Her death certificate, seen by the BBC, listed multiple organ failure, septic shock, and pancreatitis as the immediate cause of death, but the use of prescribed tirzepatide was also recorded as a contributing factor.5The recent reports are based on data recorded by the MHRA, which collects information about spontaneous suspected adverse drug reactions through its Yellow Card scheme. These can be submitted by patients, members of the public, and healthcare professionals.The MHRA also publishes a total number of reported adverse …

Inadequate staffing and administrative burden are leaving many doctors struggling to provide patients with the care they need, a General Medical Council report has found.1The GMC’s Workplace Experiences 2026 report found that doctors’ overall satisfaction levels fell in 2025, after two years of small but steady improvements.The regulator’s report was based on a survey of 4606 doctors, 41% of whom reported finding it difficult to provide patients with sufficient care on a weekly basis. This figure was even higher among doctors in Wales (47%) and Scotland (46%).Among GPs specifically, 60% reported finding it difficult to provide sufficient levels of care.Qualitative research carried out by the GMC identified that the main barriers to good care were inadequate staffing, administrative burden, workload demands, patient flow problems, and delays.Just over half of respondents (55%) overall said that …

Yup, the NHS spent almost £240m storing patient records in 2024-25, with a significant proportion of this spent on storing paper records, according to the King’s Fund.1Quite. Previous research from the think tank showed that the NHS spent £230m during 2023-24 on paper records alone. On average, an NHS trust spent £1.22m storing patient records during 2024-25, up from £1.19m in 2017-18.More than …