Medical news in brief: Rise in TB and measles, world’s first H5N1 case in sheep, MPs back tobacco bill, and other stories
BMJ 2025; 389 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.r644 (Published 03 April 2025) Cite this as: BMJ 2025;389:r644
General practice
Reform in Scotland fails to ease pressure on GPs
A new deal for GPs in Scotland that promised to transform their working lives has been a failure, said a damning report from Audit Scotland. A contract agreed with the Scottish government in 2018 sought to tackle the financial pressures and growing workloads facing GPs and to improve patients’ access to care. Instead, said the report, pressure on general practice had increased, investment as a proportion of overall NHS spending had fallen, the number of full time GPs had decreased, and patients reported finding it harder to get care. (Full story doi:10.1136/bmj.r618)
Orthopaedics
Panel reviews 800 Addenbrooke’s hip patients
A panel of expert clinicians will examine the treatment of around 800 patients by a now suspended, but unnamed, consultant paediatric orthopaedic surgeon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. The external retrospective review follows an initial review of complex hip surgery cases over the past two and a half years, which found that nine children had received substandard care. Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has also commissioned an independent investigation into any missed opportunities to identify concerns and act earlier. (Full story doi:10.1136/bmj.r609)
Infectious diseases
Warning over rise in TB and measles in England
England saw rising cases of tuberculosis (TB) and measles and an intense season of flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in 2024-25, meaning that “we cannot be …
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