Dr NICK SUMMERTON reveals the crisis has tested our GPs as never before

How is the pandemic affecting general practice, the mainstay of NHS care? Across the UK, thousands of GPs are having to find new ways of looking after patients — potentially changing how all of us are treated in future, as this fascinating weekly diary, written by a GP in Yorkshire, reveals.  The author, Dr Nick … Read more

Elderly care home residents are ‘being left to die’ from coronavirus by ‘ageist’ GPs

Elderly care home residents are essentially being left to die from coronavirus by ‘ageist’ GPs, warned the chief of Care England. Professor Martin Green, chief executive of the UK’s independent social care service, alleged one doctor wrote to a home refusing to visit pensioners, saying they will not be admitted to hospital amid the pandemic.  … Read more

GPs supplied with expired face masks that have concealed ‘best before’ stickers to fight coronavirus

GPs on the coronavirus frontline are being supplied with face masks that expired four years ago, it has emerged.  Boxes of masks handed out to multiple GP surgeries by NHS England are printed with an expiry date of 2016. But in an apparent attempt to conceal the issue, stickers showing a later expiry date of … Read more

‘Dr Harold Shipman’ laws are put on hold to help GPs cope with growing coronavirus death toll

Medical safeguards introduced following the conviction of Britain’s most notorious serial killer Dr Harold Shipman will be temporarily relaxed as Ministers are handed sweeping new powers to tackle coronavirus. Under emergency legislation to be put before MPs within days, strict rules around the registration of deaths and cremations will be put on hold to ease … Read more

NHS test used by GPs to detect adults with autism is UNRELIABLE, academics warn 

An autism test used by GPs to flag adults with the condition in adults is ‘unreliable’, academics have said. The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ10) screens adults who are suspected of having the condition but do not have learning disabilities. They are asked 10 questions including ‘do you notice small sounds others don’t?’ and ‘do you find … Read more