Twelve doctors employed by the firm that is paid £100m a year to assess people claiming disability benefit are under investigation by the General Medical Council over allegations of improper conduct. The doctors, who work for Atos Healthcare, a French-owned company recently criticised by MPs for its practices, face being struck off if they are found not to have put the care of patients first.
Monthly Archives: August 2011
Mental health service users and personal health budgets
What Personal Health Budgets mean to mental health service users
By William Smith
It is hard to keep up with all the proposed changes to our NHS system. The piloting of personal budgets in the NHS began in 2009. This scheme begun under the old Labour government and is now supported by the coalition in their health white paper ‘Equity and excellence: liberating the NHS’.
A recently published report shows that mental health service users in England are sceptical that these ‘personal budgets’ will improve their care. Many do not know what personal budgets are or how they would fit into similar funding schemes within the social care system.
Atos doctors could be struck off
Seven of the doctors have been under investigation for more than seven months
Twelve medics at the disability assessment centre are under investigation by the GMC over allegations of improper conduct
Atos practices concerning welfare and disability assessment have come under intense criticism.
‘Late’ asthma research unearths potential new treatment
13 August 2011 Last updated at 04:12
More than 5 million people in the UK suffer from asthma.
Scientists have stumbled on a potential new treatment for delayed asthma attacks which can occur several hours after exposure to allergens, a study shows.
A team from Imperial College London found that blocking sensory nerve functions stopped a “late asthmatic response” in mice and rats.
Around half of people with asthma experience delayed symptoms.
The charity Asthma UK says the research could help the understanding of asthma.
