Sticking to standards, not together

doi:10.1136/bmj.39317.653125.BE

BMJ 2007;335:465 (8 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.39317.653125.BE

Letters

Unholy trinity

Sticking to standards, not together

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

If the profession continues to turn a blind eye to underperformimgdoctors we should not be surprised if the government takes action.¹

We have used locum doctors as part of the salvage process fora high health need, inner city practice over the past six months.Some of them missed potential red flags; had poor record keeping,prescribing, and referral practices; and proposed out of datemanagement of chronic conditions. Some from elsewhere in Europedo not know how the NHS works, or how to work in the NHS. Perhapsnot surprisingly—since locums are generally unsupervisedand unsupported—most do not seem to reflect systematicallyon their clinical practice.

So far, in this one practice over the past few months, we havereferred one doctor to the National Clinical Assessment Serviceand another for formal investigation. Dozens of others havebeen referred to their host primary care trusts.

We are unusual . . . [Full text of this article]

Caroline Mawer, general practitioner, Douglas Russell, medical director

Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust, Mile End Hospital, London E1 4DG

caroline.mawer@gmail.com