Kings Medical Practice News www.kingmedicalpractice.co.uk

Its a bit like buses, you can wait ages and then two come along together. This week we have been told about how we can access two online support networks to help people with mental health issues. The first is Big White Wall, click here for the website, and this give peer support for people over 18 with mental health issues. There are outcome measures to show that people who use this for support improve. The support is moderated by Wall Guides so is a safe, anonymous and supportive environment to share concerns and start accessing help. Big White Wall is free to our patients but to access services you need a login. If after looking at the website you think it might be the thing that you might find helpful email me by clicking here and I will sort you our a login. The other is Kooth. This is aimed at children and young people under 16. It is to provide some support for common mental health problems found in children and young people. The site is moderated and has good outcomes for

Junior doctors are angry because a new contract will change their normal working week hours from 7 am to 7 pm, Monday to Friday  to 7 am to 10 pm Monday to Saturday. Time they work outside these normal hours are currently paid at enhanced rates. The BMA and Department of Health have been in negotiation for some time but talks broke down in the summer over threats that the health secretary will impose a new contract. The health secretary has said that only 1% of doctors will be worse off, but that is largely because they will protect the pay of junior doctors for the next three years. After that time it is unclear what will happen but the BMA has said that 75% of doctors would be worse off and new junior doctors certainly would be worse off. With these changes the Department of Health is trying to make it cheaper for hospitals to have more junior doctors working unsocial hours and at weekends. But they already do weekend and unsocial hours so junior doctors think they are just tr

The Care Quality Commission have been undertaking a visit to Wakefields' health and social care services to check how systems work to protect children and young people who are at risk from abuse. As part of this visit we were visited on Thursday. The inspector was looking at how the system worked as a whole and how the practice worked as part of that system. I think I was able to demonstrate that we and the system were doing what we were supposed to be doing and I showed her several referrals and cases which demonstrated this. She was after examples of good practice and took away a document I had produced on optimising the use of our clinical computer system for Safeguarding but she did suggest a couple of things that we might like to start doing. Firstly we should start recording the names of people who attend with children not just 'mum' or 'auntie' and secondly we should be more particular in how we record what children and young people say during consultatio