Commissioning: important for all GPs

Giving GPs budgets for commissioning: what needs to be done?

The new Coalition Government has made clear its intention to ‘strengthen the power of GPs to act as patients’ expert guides through the health system’, by enabling them to commission care on their patients’ behalf (Cabinet Office, 2010). This briefing paper has been developed jointly by six national organisations who have been working together over a number of months to explore what needs to ha...

Engaging GPs in commissioning: realist evaluation of the early experiences of Clinical Commissioning Groups in the English NHS

Objectives To explore the 'added value' that general practitioners (GPs) bring to commissioning in the English NHS. We describe the experience of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in the context of previous clinically led commissioning policy initiatives. Methods Realist evaluation. We identified the programme theories underlying the claims made about GP 'added value' in commissioning from i...

Why Gender Equality is Important for All of the MDGs

Important role of caspase-8 for chemosensitivity of ALL cells.

PURPOSE Sensitivity of tumor cells toward chemotherapy mainly determines the prognosis of patients suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL); nevertheless, underlying mechanisms regulating chemosensitivity remain poorly understood. Here, we aimed at characterizing the role of caspase-8 for chemosensitivity of B- and T-ALL cells. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Primary tumor cells from children wi...

Rational prescribing is important in all settings

The importance of rational prescribing in low-income and lower-middle-income countries is highlighted by the paper published by Risk and colleagues. The authors evaluated the prescribing practices of health professionals treating children under the age of 5 years in 20 different public health centres in The Gambia. There were over 300 young children seen with diarrhoea, and a similar number see...