theMEDICALSTUDENT
February 2014
The voice of London's Medical Students/www.themedicalstudent.co.uk
A&E Shortfall
A lack of doctors >> page 5
Lister
The pioneer of antiseptics >> page 21
Attendance
Does it improve grades? >> page 12
Biomedical Sciences
Just a route to medicine? > page 7
Socialising NHS Patient Data Krishna Dayalji This spring will see changes to the way in which health professionals working within the National Health Service (NHS) will handle our confidential medical records. This is because from March, the care.data project will have begun. Led by NHS England, the care.data project will entail gathering information regarding the care patients have received in order to improve the future quality of care provided by health and social services. This will be achieved by creating a dataset stretching over the whole patient care pathway, which will be made available to clinicians, commissioners and researchers. The new system aims to provide joined-up information about the care received from all of the different parts of the health service, including hospitals and GP practices. Only the date of birth, full postcode, NHS number and gender will be used to link your records in a secure system. Once this information has been linked, a new record will be created. This new record will not contain information that identifies a particular individual. It is believed that through this programme of work, the best possible evidence will become available to improve the quality of care for all, whilst also creating a clear and complete picture of what is happening across health and social care, and plan services according to what works best as well as reducing inequalities in the care received. Interestingly, the new system will also provide information that will enable the public to hold the NHS to account and
ensure that any unacceptable standards of care are identified as quickly as possible. We also know that these types of collaborative schemes have proven successful in the past. For example, the analysis of NHS records first revealed the dangers of thalidomide and helped track the impact of the smoking ban. Future medical treatment we will receive and provide will be based on the largest evidence base yet. Indeed, ‘the new era of socialised big NHS data’ holds great power and potential for medical researchers and future clinicians alike. However, would socialising NHS patient data be a good idea overall? Some have argued that this health policy has more to do with economic value and financial benefits, with a social good and multiple health value as a ‘pleasant side-effect’. As Alice Bell, Guardian correspondent, wrote: “It’s about boosting the UK life sciences industry, not patient care.” She goes further to add that socialising health data is counter-productive when we are breaking up the core of a socialised healthcare system. The care.data project is “merely transforming us into a financial asset” The cost to quantify and market patients is estimated at over £50m by The Health Service Journal. Another argument that has been put forward surrounds the issues of data security. It is the role of the Health and Social Care Information Centre to ensure that high quality information is used appropriately to improve patient care. However, the critics of data security add that with the constant cuts and out-sourcing of the NHS, fears regarding ownership of data heightened...[cont’n on page 2]
Plaid Cymru to wipe debt of doctors who move to Wales Chris Smith Junior doctors who decide to work in Wales could get their student debts paid off under proposals unveiled by Plaid Cymru, the Party of Wales. The debts, about £75,000 on average, would be wiped in exchange for a commitment to work in Wales for a number of years. The party said 1,000 extra doctors were needed to boost what it called a “creaking Welsh health service”. The party said their policy would solve a problem that has led to Wales having one of the lowest doctor per patient ratios in Europe, 26.4 doc-
tors per 10,000 people, ahead of only Romania and Poland. They claim that there is a GP ‘time bomb’ in certain parts of Wales with many on the verge of retirement and a lack of new recruits ready to replace them. By paying off debts, student doctors would have to spend a portion of their training and early employment in an underserved area. However, the policies were dismissed by the Labour party as “fantasy politics” and the head of medical education in Wales said that the policy would be expensive, urging politicians to focus on improving the working experience
of doctors in Wales to attract more recruits. Before completing medical school, students rank the UK’s medical training areas by order of preference. Betterperforming students have an increased chance of being allocated their preferred area, leading to concerns that the best young doctors are becoming concentrated in the parts of the country perceived to have the best career opportunities and quality of life. Dr Andrew Collier, co-chair of the British Medical Association’s Junior Doctor Committee, said that striking off student debt...[cont’n on page 2]