GPs are under pressure to provide more flexible hours under Sir Ara Darzi’s review of the NHS.

Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, has expressed concern over current nine-to-five opening hours, saying they are an ‘anomaly’, according to the BBC (10^th Sept 2007).

The Government is not asking doctors to be on call all through the night but do want to see extended opening times to help the millions of people who work during the day.

Mr. Johnson will ask Sir Ara Darzi, who was appointed a health minister in July, to find a solution as part of a nationwide review of health services.

Gordon Brown promised to address the issues of access to GPs on the eve of becoming Prime Minister. He was supported by the Confederation of British Industry, which found that 3.5 million working days were lost last year due to people taking time off to visit their doctor.

The Government negotiated contracts with GPs in 2004. This led to more than 90% of them choosing not to provide out-of-hours care and handing the responsibilities to primary care trusts.

In August, Doctors were warned in a letter from Mark Britnell, the Director of Commissioning at the Department of Health, that unless they open at evenings and on Saturdays, private companies would take over their practices.

But the British Medical Association (BMA) says it would be too expensive to revise a system that many people are happy with. Laurence Buckman, chairman of the BMA’s GPs committee, told The Times newspaper (10^th Sept 2007) that a recent survey showed that at least eight out of ten Britons were happy with current opening hours. He said: “If you open on Saturday mornings – and I don’t think there is any wish among GPs to open on Saturday mornings – they would have to shut some other time.”

Sir Ara Darzi is expected to meet retailers such as Boots and Lloyds Pharmacy to discuss the idea of opening ‘satellite’ NHS surgeries within the chain’s branches. Ministers hope the system could offer patients more flexible hours.

A Boots spokeswoman told The Times (18^th Sept 2007) up to 30 local health authorities and GP practices had expressed interest in a scheme trialed in Poole, Dorset, in which NHS doctors carried out consultations within Boots pharmacies.

Other options, such as allowing patients to register at more than one practice so they can visit a doctor closer to work, have been suggested to the Government in recent years but have been seen as too complex to introduce.

CBI

It is important to invest in your health and be aware of the latest developments and treatments available. In a recent study it has been highlighted that taking Statins, according to American researchers, could cut the risk of developing Alzheimer’s.

A study, conducted at Boston University, concluded that cholesterol-lowering statins could make patients up to 79 per cent less likely to develop the illness.

It has been previously suggested that poor blood flow and cardiovascular changes in the brain are some of the causes of Alzheimer’s. It is now thought that statins – taken daily by around three million Britons – may help to prevent such changes.

The study’s lead author, Doctor Gail Li, from the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, told The Times newspaper (Tuesday August 28^th 2007) the study was the first to compare the brains of people who had been taking statins with those who had not.

The research, which has been conducted since 2002, included examining the brains of 110 Americans who had died between the ages of 65 and 79 and had donated their organs for research.

Although the cause of Alzheimer’s is not yet fully known, two of the main indications of the disease are changes in the brain known as brain ‘plaques’ and ‘tangles’. These are protein deposits that appear to spread around the brain.

The researchers found that even when allowing for variables such as gender and past health, people who had taken statins had significantly less tangles in the brain than those who had not.

Eric Larson, a co-author of the study, told The Times: “These results are exciting, novel and have important implications for prevention strategies.” However, he did suggest further studies were needed to confirm the findings.

Dr Li said: “Statins are probably more likely to help prevent the disease in certain kinds of people than others. Some day we may be able to know more precisely which individuals will benefit from which types of statins”, as reported in The Times.

In January 2006, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published guidance to the NHS in England and Wales about the use of Statins, such as fluvastatin and pravastatin, to prevent cardiovascular disease and to treat existing sufferers.

It suggested that statins should be prescribed to patients who have an estimated 20 per cent or greater risk of developing heart disease within the next ten years. A review of the guidance is expected in November 2008.

Other studies have shown negative effects of the drugs. In July, researchers in Massachusetts found slightly increased risks of cancer in statin users. The drug lowers levels of lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and this has been linked to an increased possibility of cancer.

The drugs can also trigger muscle weakness, which could lead to a complete breakdown of muscle cells (known as rhabdomyolysis) which can cause kidney failure and death.