Medical Centre

I attended the launch event of the Imperial College London Antimicrobial Research Collaborative this week. The Antimicrobial Research Collaborative (ARC@Imperial) consolidates world leading, multidisciplinary research across Imperial College London to address the urgent global threat of antimicrobial resistance. I had the opportunity to meet Dr Martin Cole. Dr Cole led the team that developed the antibiotic Augmentin (also known by its generic name of Co-Amoxiclav) by adding Clavulanate Potassium to Amoxicillin. Dr Martin Cole who led the  team that developed the antibiotic Augmentin Sir Richard Sykes, Chairman of the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Professor Alice Gast, President of Imperial College London

For those of you who are wondering why the NHS in England is in so much difficulty at present, look no further than this OECD graph for the main reason. Until 2009, per capita healthcare spending in the UK was increasing by around 3.6% per year. Since 2009, per capita healthcare spending in the UK has actually been declining by around 0.1% per year. Since 2009, the NHS has also had to manage the growing number of older people in the UK (who have the greatest need for health and social services) and deal with (in England) the consequences of the major organisational changes brought about by the 2012 Health and Social Care Act. You can view more healthcare statistics on the OECD Health Statistics 2015  website.

In a recent article in the British Journal of General Practice , I give the academic perspective on the question of whether GPs give up their independent contractor status. An increasing proportion of GPs are salaried (around 28% in England in 2014), and currently employed on contracts that can vary considerably in salary and employment rights. Medical students and junior doctors who want to pursue a career in specialist medicine know under what terms they are likely to be employed when they become consultants. The same is not true for people who would like to pursue a career in primary care. This uncertainty is one of the factors deterring junior doctors from applying for GP training schemes and for these schemes not meeting their recruitment targets. You can read the full article in the British Journal of General Practice .