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Editors' Blog

December 2007 - Posts

  • New Year, New Changes!

    Healthcare Republic, GP Newspaper and MIMS are seeing some significant changes for 2008.

    First, Healthcare Republic saw the launch of a new community platform this week with the creation of a 'forums and blogs' section on the site.

    Healthcare Republic's forum is unique in that any members of the primary care community can take part in the debate, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, practice managers and anybody with a proven interest in medical issues.

    The new community platform includes four forums:
    • Healthcare Republic Feedback: this is where you can leave your opinion on the website itself, what you like about it and what you would like us to change
    • Comments on articles: all the comments left by readers on articles and news stories can also be found in this forum where you can continue the discussion.
    • Pay issues in primary care: Here you can discuss the latest developments on pay issues in primary care.
    • NHS policy debate: What do you think about the ongoing reforms of the NHS? How do you see the future of primary care? Has Lord Darzi got it right? Have your say here.
    In addition, we have created this Blog to keep you informed of what is going on in our publications. This will be regularly updated by our editors.

    GP Newspaper is also experiencing a dramatic change in the New Year. Indeed, a fresh, new-look GP is changing from A3 format to Magloid – between A4 and tabloid. The first issue of the new version of GP is out on 11 January.

    And last but not least, MIMS will include new chapters in the New Year. From January 2008, the prescribing guide used by doctors and pharmacists will include four new resource chapters – palliative care, clinical guidelines, visual guides and essential drug comparison tables.

    To find out more about the changes in MIMS read our story on Healthcare Republic.

     

     

  • Welcome to the Healthcare Republic community!

    We have just launched a new community platform on Healthcare Republic with blogs and forums.

    In forums, you can leave your feedback on our website, participate in discussions, or simply read what other users have to say about the latest medical issues. Our forum is unusual in that it is open to everyone working in primary care.

    But that's not all, we have also created a blog section where our editors will keep you updated on the hottest topics.

    This is the perfect opportunity for you to get involved in active dicussions and exchange your opinions in a safe environment.

    The Healthcare Republic team

  • New era of health tourism in Europe

    Once the fog of the festive season has lifted, many of us will be feverishly checking holiday brochures to find a perfect week away in August that will make the rest of the winter bearable.

    But latest proposals from the European Union mean that the brochures could soon be recommending hospitals near to your holiday hotel, alongside the best beaches and bars.

    According to a story in The Times, the EU wants to open up a European market in healthcare that will allow citizens to travel across borders if they are suffering delays in treatment. In most cases the healthcare will have to be funded by the home country.

    Not surprisingly, the UK government will be fighting the proposals to prevent NHS funds leaving the country (for some reason they don’t expect much traffic in the opposite direction). When this issue first blew up several years ago, the big concerns in primary care were that practices would be left dealing with post-operative care and the medico-legal nightmare of botched operations abroad.

    Nowadays the biggest headache could be offering the patient a choice of providers and arranging their surgery via a Europe-wide version of Choose and Book. Scarey…

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