Clinical summit online
GPs will be able to watch some of the world's leading health experts online at a unique international clinical summit. Hosted by health minister Lord Ara Darzi, the summit will bring together leading figures from a wide range of clinical specialities and backgrounds from the UK, US, Canada and Europe to provide ideas for Lord Darzi's NHS review. View the summit at www.livegroup.co.uk/internationalclinicalsummit.
Launch of training materials for ethnic minorities
Training materials for mental health workers treating patients from black and minority ethnic communities have been launched as part of the DoH's Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health Care programme. Details at www.lincoln.ac.uk/ccawi/RECC.htm.
RCGP elects chairman
Professor Steve Field has been elected as chairman of the RCGP. Professor Field was co-author of the recent RCGP document The Future Direction of General Practice: A Roadmap. He will continue to work as a GP partner at the Bellevue Medical Centre in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Professor Field replaced Professor Mayur Lakhani and he will hold the post for three years.
Papworth to resume heart transplant operations
The Healthcare Commission is allowing Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to resume heart transplant operations following the trust's agreement to implement additional safeguards to protect patients. After a two-week review, the independent watchdog said quality of care was good and there were no common factors to explain the recent rise in the number of deaths.
Consultant pay up without productivity gain
The DoH increased consultant pay by a quarter without securing any extra productivity in contract negotiations, according to the Public Accounts Committee. Its report found that pay increased by 27 per cent from £86,746 to £109,974.
