International Medicine

British health care system ailing

The British public health care system is not doing well and new treatment may be needed to revive it, according to more than 600 residents interviewed in a Gallup poll. Eight-five% of respondents interviewed in the poll, conducted for the Daily Telegraph, said Britain’s health care system was "in somewhat failing health" or doing "very poorly indeed." Only two% said it was in "peak condition." CMAJ 2000;162(12):1721.

BMA gives thumbs down to government regulatory body

The British Medical Association gave a vote of "no confidence" in the General Medical Council, the government-appointed body that regulates medicine in the UK. The BMA doctors reaffirmed their support for self-regulation, but voted by an 80% margin that they had no confidence in the GMC "as presently constituted and functioning." They demanded "urgent reforms of its structure and functions in consultation with the profession." British politicians have been calling for an end to self-regulation after several high-profile disciplinary cases. CMAJ 2000:163(4):432.

More Americans have health insurance

The number of Americans without health insurance declined by 1.7 million people or 3.8% between 1998 and 1999, the first decrease since the US Census Bureau began collecting comparable health insurance data in 1987. The improvement is due to the fact that more Americans have employment-based health insurance. There were 42.6 million uninsured Americans in 1999 compared with 44.3 million the previous year CMAJ 2000;163(10):1326.

UK revokes physician’s licence

A gynecologist who was allowed to practise in Britain after losing his licence in Canada was finally struck off the British register in July. Richard Neale, 54, was trained in the UK. In the 1980s he had his operating privileges revoked in British Columbia and was ordered to undergo retraining. Instead, he moved to Ontario; he was struck off the register there in 1985 following the 1981 death of a patient who suffered an amniotic embolism and ruptured uterus after he administered oxytocin followed by prostaglandin. While undergoing investigation in Ontario, he returned to the UK and became a consultant. The General Medical Council, which regulated UK medicine, eventually found him guilty of 32 charges involving 12 patients. The charges included incompetence, operating without consent, carrying out unnecessary procedures, failing to monitor patients postoperatively and duping patients into paying for private surgery. More than 150 women in Britain are complaining about their treatment from him; many are suing. CMAJ 2000;163(5):584.

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