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New Training And Education Programme Introduced For The Scientific Workforce In Genetics, UK
A new education programme has been developed to provide enhanced training in genetic technologies and clinical applications for healthcare scientists working in laboratory genetics, Health Minister Ann Keen announced.

Obama, Health Insurers Clash On Public Plan
"President Obama made a detailed case on Tuesday for a new government-administered health insurance plan, but he did not rule out signing a bill that lacks such an option if he cannot win enough support from Democrats in Congress," The New York Times reports. "In a White House news conference, Mr. Obama dismissed as "not logical" the suggestion that a public plan, which is intended to create more competition and therefore act as a brake on the rise of health insurance costs, would undermine the private insurance market. He argued that a government-run plan competing with private insurers would be an "important tool to discipline insurance companies" and scoffed at complaints that it could drive some out of business."
News of the day
New York Doctors Race To Abide By In-Office Surgery Rules
"A New York State law that takes effect on July 14 has physicians who perform office-based surgery scrambling to upgrade their offices or find new space altogether," The New York Times reports. The Patient Protection Bill, "signed into law by Gov. Eliot Spitzer in July 2007, is intended to ensure high safety standards in offices when surgery and other invasive procedures are conducted with more than minimal sedation" and is "the first time that New York State will regulate office-based surgeries." Doctors may need to modify their office space with "larger elevators, improved ventilation, backup power equipment with the ability to run for a longer period and other mechanical accommodations." But "since some medical offices cannot be physically adapted to meet accreditation requirements, especially in Manhattan, many physicians have been seeking new office space." This can be difficult in the city, where there is "a dearth of recently built medical office space." Claire Pospisil, "a spokeswoman with the New York State Department of Health, said the state did not know how many medical offices were conducting operations; this was one reason for the new law." She estimates that "70 or 75 percent of medical offices in New York City and Long Island do these surgeries."
Health Insurance

British Medical Association Cymru Wales Welcomes Health Minister's Decision To Extend Free Accommodation For Junior Doctors Indefinitely

All first year doctors training in Wales will now benefit from free hospital accommodation indefinitely. Health Minister Edwina Hart had previously agreed to extend the provision of free on-site housing for F1 training grade doctors in Wales, until summer 2010. That will now continue for the foreseeable future. The decision follows the recommendations by an Accommodation Review Group (with strong representation by BMA Cymru Wales) supported by collaborative discussions between BMA Cymru Wales, the postgraduate deanery and the Welsh Assembly Government. After the requirement for pre-registration doctors to be resident at a hospital was removed from the Medical Act last year, it led to protests by medical students outside the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff. Without free hospital accommodation, it is estimated there would be an additional cost to newly-qualified junior doctors of around ÷£4,800 a year, on top of average student debts of ÷£20,000. Welcoming the move Dr Richard Lewis, Welsh secretary of the BMA, said: "This announcement by the Welsh Health Minister demonstrates the Welsh Assembly Government"s commitment to value the role of junior doctors in the NHS and will help to ensure Wales becomes the destination of choice for medical training. It is testament to the collaborative working between the profession and government as NHS Wales returns to the core principles on which the health service was founded. "The minister clearly recognises the importance of valuing junior staff in Wales. We have severe shortfalls in posts in Wales and this will go some way towards creating the culture which is necessary to attract the best medical talent for the future. This, associated with a number of other initiatives to improve training opportunities and academic medicine and research programmes, will bode well for the future of training in Wales and ultimately for Welsh patients. "BMA Cymru Wales will now continue, via the Accommodation Review Group, to ensure the quality of accommodation for junior doctors in Wales is improved to meet at least basic standards and to press for accommodation that does not, to be addressed as a matter of urgency." The British Medical Association


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