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Barnabas Bulle n
Ghost Pa ents
However good the admin, GPs
always end up with some ghost
pa ents on their lists: pa ents
who have moved away, le! the
country, or even died without the
prac ce being told. However
there is concern that the number
is too high and that a few
prac ces may be using this as a
way to get extra funding;
apparently last year there were
over 3.5 million more people
registered with GPs than there
are in the country (that’s about
an extra 6%)! Consequently this
is being looked at by the NHS’s
fraud team.
Source: BBC News
Bringing Doctors Back to
General Prac ce
The NHS is stepping up efforts to
en ce doctors who have le! the
NHS to return. The scheme has
already a"racted almost 800 GPs
into coming out of re rement,
returning a!er taking a break,
working in another occupa on,
or moving abroad.
Source: NHS England
Pa ent Experience Sharing
As pa ents we know it would o!en be helpful or reassuring to
know something of what to expect before undergoing a
medical procedure or treatment. To help calm these concerns
the PPG has created some “helpful notes” of pa ents’
experiences of various procedures and treatments. These can
be found in the PPG area of the Prac ce website.
To make this really worthwhile we need
more contribu ons, please!
If you can contribute, please write some notes (they don’t have
to be neat, dy or in polished English), address them to Keith
Marshall, and leave them with Recep on, or email them to
barnabas.ppg@gmail.com.
The notes will be edited and added to the collec on for
everyone’s benefit. All contribu ons will be anonymous.
Food & Drug Interac ons
Most of us are aware that some drugs react badly with other
drugs, dietary supplements, or even some foods. But these
interac ons are not always obvious, so here are six of the most
common, but o!en overlooked, interac ons between drugs
and foods or over-the-counter remedies:
• Sta ns and grapefruit juice
• Warfarin and Vitamin K in green leafy vegetables
• SSRI an depressants and ibuprofen
• Metronidazole and alcohol
• St John’s Wort and oral contracep ves
• Calcium-rich foods and supplements with some
an bio cs
The usual warning applies: DON’T PANIC and do NOT stop
taking your drugs without first discussing with your doctor.
Source: NHS Choices
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