Locum Staffing and Medical Staffing

Dear All,




I have been forwarded this email by one of our GPs that is registered with us and read with great interest. I appreciate what you are trying to do and we too firmly believe that excellent GPs should be paid well and should not feel in anyway that they have been under rewarded for their work.



With this is mind, I am sure the committed, reliable and capable GPs that are on you list who have been employed by us in particular will be satisfied with the rates and service that they have received from us. I feel that GPs who have patient care as opposed to remuneration as a priority will naturally be paid appropriately and if the practices that they work for are happy, rates will never be a problem. If there is any neglect, unreliability, cancellations, bad punctuality and unprofessionalism shown by GPs, I am sure you will appreciate that practices will be hesitant to pay such “excellent” rates. Often, if a GP is being paid unusually lower rates, there is often a good reason for this. And this is going by practice feedback and past experiences. Saying that, all practices have difference budgets so there will always be fluctuations and variation.



As this brings together numerous interesting talking points, I will add this to our blog. If you have any comments, please feel free to share this.



Address:

http://blog.medical-staffing.co.uk





Nick Hesketh

GP Consultant



DDI: 01582 439743

Fax: 01582 345355

Mobile: 07817709273

Blog: blog.medical-staffing.co.uk

Web: www.locumstaffing.co.uk



Locum Staffing LTD, F20a, Basepoint, 110 Butterfields, Great Marlings, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU2 8DL




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Subject: Locum group.


Date: Wednesday, 3 February, 2010, 11:12



Hi All



working as locum. i met few guys while doing locums,who are working for low rates.

i guess its nearly 10-15yrs of hard work to come upto this stage,since we joined medical schooling, and i feel we deserve better rates, and i am working with better rates for nearly an year,i had no problem in finding work, with this better rates.

i dont know whether its useful for us to form like a group(co-op),to stabilise the rates and pass on work each other that we couldnt cover. we can have some educational meeting aswell.



please feel free to email/call me.



Regards



Dr. Locum

20 Jan 10
By Ian Quinn

Plans for a major regulatory crackdown on the fitness to practice of foreign GPs have been revealed in a GMC report.

The proposals, which would see significant new training hurdles put in the way of EU doctors qualifying outside the UK, have been mooted as a way for the body to protect patients against unsafe GPs while staying within European laws which currently limit the scrutiny regulators can apply.

The move comes with controversy over EU doctors to the fore, with the national spotlight on the inquest into the death of David Gray, a Cambridgeshire patient who died after being given an overdose of diamorphine by Dr Daniel Ubani, a German doctor on his first shift in the UK.
Commissioned by the GMC and the Post Graduate Medical Education and Training Board, the draft report, including 27 recommendations on improving the training and regulation of doctors, follows an independent review led by Lord Naren Patel.

The reports says it is vital that the public and employers have confidence in the in the fitness to practise of doctors, adding: ‘One factor militating against this is the lack of equivalence between the standards required of UK and EEA doctors entering the specialist and GP registers.’
While European law on the recognition of professional qualifications sets out the minimum training requirements for doctors across the European Economic Area (EEA), providing training satisfies those minimum requirements, member states are required by law to recognise the qualifications held by nationals of other EEA states.

It means the GMC has to treat EEA qualifications held by EEA nationals in the same way as UK qualifications and cannot carry out any assessment of the knowledge and skills of incoming EEA doctors who hold recognised qualifications.

The report claims patients are being put at risk because of ‘the shortcomings in current legislation’.

It says there is ‘significant variation between the training undertaken in different EEA countries,’ adding ‘as a result the GMC is unable to ensure that all new registrants are of an equivalent standard to UK trained doctors.’

‘This clearly limits the effectiveness of the registers and the ability of the GMC to protect patients,’ concludes the report.

It recommends the GMC brings in new regulation which means EEA doctors are no longer eligible to take up consultant and GP posts and be included on specialist GP registers, until they have been through the first revalidation following the completion of their training.
The move, it says, ‘could provide a mechanism for continuing to meet EC requirements in relation to recognition of training while ensuring greater equivalence in standards at the point of entry to the specialist and GP registers.’

The report comes with the Government reported to be planning to introduce a raft of new requirements for foreign GPs, including standard of English and medical competence tests, as part of a review of out-of-hours safety being headed up by Dr David Colin-Thomé, the Department of Health's director of clinical care, and Professor Steve Field, chairperson of the RCGP.

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC said: ‘We have a great opportunity now to create a system in which every stage of education and training is fit for purpose, successfully prepares the doctor for the next one, where standards are constantly rising and which treats all doctors fairly, wherever they come from and whatever stage they are at in their careers.’

Taxman targets tax-dodging doctors and dentists

HMRC is seeking taxable income regardless of where it is hidden
Doctors and other medical professionals are being targeted by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in a fresh campaign against tax dodgers.
If they make a full confession of past unpaid tax then their penalty will be just 10% of the unpaid money.
Medical professionals, including dentists, who want to take advantage of the offer, have to contact the Revenue by 31 March 2010.
They must then pay the past tax, plus interest and penalties, by 30 June.
A spokesman for the Revenue said the tax authorities had been gaining information about doctors, and others, from employers such as NHS trusts, private hospitals and medical insurance firms.
"There is a problem with a significant enough minority for us to provide this opportunity and the support that goes with it," he said.
"We are talking about well-paid people - higher rate taxpayers."
Way forward
The Revenue's campaign, called the Tax Health Plan (THP), follows efforts to uncover taxable income that has been hidden by UK taxpayers in offshore bank accounts.
Its most recent offshore disclosure campaign, which closed earlier this month, flushed out a further 10,000 people who said they wanted to pay tax on income hidden abroad.
In the case of medical professionals, the HMRC is looking for taxable income regardless of where it has been hidden.
Anyone who does not come forward, but who is subsequently investigated and found to have been avoiding tax, may be fined up to 100% of their unpaid tax, with a minimum penalty of at least 30%.
"The THP is targeting a problem that does exist. I've acted for a number of health professionals making tax disclosures of unearned income in the past," said Gary Ashford of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT).
"Clearly other sectors may follow," he warned.
Stephen Camm, tax partner at accountants PwC, said: "The plan applies to individuals including doctors, dentists, hospital consultants and cosmetic surgeons and offers the certainty of a reduced penalty of 10%."
"It also removes the prospect of prosecution or public 'naming and shaming'."

Taken from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8451659.stm

Taxman targets tax-dodging doctors and dentists

HMRC is seeking taxable income regardless of where it is hidden
Doctors and other medical professionals are being targeted by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in a fresh campaign against tax dodgers.
If they make a full confession of past unpaid tax then their penalty will be just 10% of the unpaid money.
Medical professionals, including dentists, who want to take advantage of the offer, have to contact the Revenue by 31 March 2010.
They must then pay the past tax, plus interest and penalties, by 30 June.
A spokesman for the Revenue said the tax authorities had been gaining information about doctors, and others, from employers such as NHS trusts, private hospitals and medical insurance firms.
"There is a problem with a significant enough minority for us to provide this opportunity and the support that goes with it," he said.
"We are talking about well-paid people - higher rate taxpayers."
Way forward
The Revenue's campaign, called the Tax Health Plan (THP), follows efforts to uncover taxable income that has been hidden by UK taxpayers in offshore bank accounts.
Its most recent offshore disclosure campaign, which closed earlier this month, flushed out a further 10,000 people who said they wanted to pay tax on income hidden abroad.
In the case of medical professionals, the HMRC is looking for taxable income regardless of where it has been hidden.
Anyone who does not come forward, but who is subsequently investigated and found to have been avoiding tax, may be fined up to 100% of their unpaid tax, with a minimum penalty of at least 30%.
"The THP is targeting a problem that does exist. I've acted for a number of health professionals making tax disclosures of unearned income in the past," said Gary Ashford of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT).
"Clearly other sectors may follow," he warned.
Stephen Camm, tax partner at accountants PwC, said: "The plan applies to individuals including doctors, dentists, hospital consultants and cosmetic surgeons and offers the certainty of a reduced penalty of 10%."
"It also removes the prospect of prosecution or public 'naming and shaming'."

Taken from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8451659.stm

By Daniel Martin
Tired: Critics claim out-of-hours provision has grown worse
The appalling extent to which failings in NHS out-of-hours care are putting patients at risk was exposed on Wednesday.

It emerged that only six per cent of local health trusts are assessing out-of-hours calls quickly and safely – meaning thousands of people are not getting the care they need.
Just five out of 83 primary care trusts which responded to a Freedom of Information request carry out clinical assessments within the benchmark period of 20 minutes. And there is massive variation in the quality of the assessments.

The survey for the BBC’s Newsnight programme, comes with a four-week inquest opening on Thursday into the death of two patients at the hands of German doctor Daniel Ubani on his first shift in Britain.

He had had just three hours sleep before he went on duty in Cambridgeshire.
The Nigerian-born doctor injected 70-year-old kidney patient David Gray with ten times the maximum recommended dose of diamorphine, and an 86-year-old woman died of a heart attack after Ubani failed to send her to hospital.

Critics say out-of-hours provision has grown worse since GPs were allowed to pull out of responsibility for patients outside office hours.

A new contract, which came into force in 2004, led to more than 90 per cent of family doctors refusing to work evenings and weekends.
Responsibility for out-of-hours cover has now passed to primary care trusts many of whom use foreign doctors.

Three hours sleep: Daniel Ubani was on his first shift in England when he gave a patient ten times the maximum recommended dose of diamorphine
Despite promises by the NHS to clean up its act, the Newsnight survey shows that there is still a massive postcode lottery in out-of-hours care.
Only five of the PCTs met the Whitehall target that clinical assessment of all calls regarded as urgent should occur within 20 minutes.
This means someone should decide whether the person needs an urgent visit from a GP or to be taken to hospital.
There is also massive variation in how many calls are regarded as urgent – ranging from 1 per cent to 61 per cent. This appears to indicate tRead more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243069/Only-cent-NHS-trusts-hit-target-hours-calls.html#ixzz0cfj0Gzp1