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There are 5.3 million informal carers in the United Kingdom who take on caring responsibilities for family and friends. Informal carers can be forgotten patients within health and care services, yet because of carer burden, they are at risk of deterioration in health and wellbeing. There are higher levels of anxiety, depression, burnout and low self-esteem amongst carers but, to our knowledge work to date has mainly focused on supporting carers to provide better care for their family member, and less on carers' health and wellbeing. There is increasing interest in social prescribing as a method of linking patients with community-based services to improve health and wellbeing. Initiatives have included social prescribing via community pharmacies which are already recognized to be accessible for support and signposting. The coming together of community pharmacy services and social prescribing could represent a framework to better support carers in their mental health and wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In 2015 the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board (JRCPTB), acting on behalf of the three UK Royal Colleges of Physicians, launched a set of quality criteria designed to improve the educational experience of Core Medical Trainees. Methods The criteria were developed with key stakeholders from Core Medical Training (CMT) and monitored via the General Medical Council's annual National Training Survey. This paper describes the development, implementation and impact of these criteria, which have been implemented by UK postgraduate schools of medicine since 2015. Results There were trainee-reported improvements from baseline (2015-18) in at least eight out of the 13 core criteria measured. Conclusions The results demonstrate that a coordinated UK-wide approach to quality improvement, focused on a specific set of clearly defined and measurable outcomes that galvanise trainer engagement, can lead to greater trainee satisfaction in a demanding area of medicine without significant additional resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on feminist journalist and philosopher Helen Macfarlane, who was the first translator of the book "Manifesto of the Communist Party," by Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels. Topics discussed include her approach to working-class radicalism, her essay on democracy published in the journal "Democratic Review," and her decision to use the energies of poetry, religion and philosophy to the cause of Chartism, a working-class movement for political reform in Great Britain.

All physicians who are training young doctors of the future recognise the current challenge of doing this in the NHS. The recently published Temple Report documents the challenge and some of the solutions. For Kent, Surrey and Sussex (KSS) Deanery, one of the responses was to implement a new structure and process at local level -- the local faculty groups (LFGs) -- to ensure appropriate curriculum delivery. This paper sets out the history, structure and purpose of LFGs, describes what happens during a LFG meeting in both open and closed sessions and presents feedback of learning from two years in action across 11 acute trusts in the South East Coast (SEC) strategic health authority area. The experience of trainers in SEC is that the local faculty group structure and associated processes is one strand in the more effective delivery of education in the current NHS environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the innovations which have been used to influence trainers, trusts and other stakeholders in delivering the complete reform of post-undergraduate medical education in Great Britain. The principles involved in the implementation of the program include the multi-professional team working of physicians in the future, structuring and competency-based assessment of training programs, and new emphasis on academic training program.

Presents several correspondence on medical care in Great Britain. Importance of the Independent Living Fund; Comments on the association of backache with epidural anesthesia following childbirth; Treatment of avulsed incisor teeth.

Revalidation for doctors in the UK began in December 2012. Doctors in training need to revalidate every 5 years after obtaining their licence to practice and also at the point of achieving their certificate of completion of training. The annual review of competency progression (ARCP) is the vehicle for revalidation discussions. Postgraduate deans are the responsible officers for trainees and there are new processes in place, including responsibilities for educational supervisors and ARCP panels to ensure that postgraduate deans can fulfil their General Medical Council obligations. In this article, I give examples of how this might work in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the nature and history of geriatric day hospitals in Great Britain. Outcome of an assessment of geriatric day hospital care which formed the basis of the Cochrane Database Review of Medical Day Hospital Care for the Elderly; Functions of British day hospitals; Specialist services provided by day hospitals.

Reform of physician education is needed to meet the needs of patients, based on comorbidities, chronic disease management and complexity. The Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board has developed a new internal medicine curriculum for physician training that aims to not only deliver this expectation, but will simplify competency-based education, smooth the transition to the medical registrar role and hopefully fill some of the current empty funded training posts. However, the change process is complex and requires close working with the General Medical Council and other partners in curriculum delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author focuses on the management of fecal incontinence in older people in Great Britain. He discusses the factors that may cause the disease. A campaign that will support the recommendation on fecal incontinence from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) was started by the British Geriatrics Society. He stresses the importance of the first national audit of fecal incontinence among older people in improving the management of the disease.

The author comments on the Evercare model of medical care for elderly people in Great Britain. According to the author, the model improves the quality of care of elderly people but it does not reduce unplanned hospital admissions. The article also discusses Great Britain's National Health Service, cost of medical care, and emergency hospital admissions.

A letter to the editor is presented regarding the consolidation or corporatisation of veterinary practice in Great Britain.

The Physician Specialty Recruitment Office of the Royal College of Physicians has overseen recruitment into core medical training since 2009. This has allowed trends in recruitment numbers and the experience of applicants to be followed. Current recruitment into core training is not providing a large enough pool of trainees to sustain adequate filling of higher medical specialty training posts and therefore ultimately bridge the consultant vacancy rates in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Veterinary professionals operate at the human-animal-environment interface and are concerned about sustainability issues. This study examined the extent to which sustainability is represented in policy and enacted in veterinary practice settings, as reported by practice representatives., Methods: An online survey was completed by 392 veterinary centre representatives in the UK and Republic of Ireland to identify existing policies and practices around the environmental impacts of veterinary services and animal husbandry, responsible medicine use, animal welfare and social wellbeing., Results: A minority of respondents were aware of an environmental policy at their practice (17%, 68/392). Many others were undertaking waste reduction initiatives, but wider environmental interventions were infrequently reported. The majority were aware of medicine stewardship and animal welfare policies or guidelines, but a minority reported social wellbeing policies (40%, 117/289) and the provision of advice to clients on the environmental impacts of animal husbandry (31%, 92/300)., Limitations: The bias arising from the small convenience sample of practice representatives and potential discrepancies between the claims of survey respondents and their practices' policies and activities are acknowledged., Conclusion: Results depict a value-action gap between the concern of veterinary professionals towards sustainability and the policies and practices at their workplaces. Building on progress in the sector, wider adoption of comprehensive policies and practices, with guidance, could enhance veterinary contributions to the sustainability agenda, in particular to mitigate the environmental externalities of veterinary services and animal care and ensure safe, fair and inclusive workplaces., (© 2023 The Authors. Veterinary Record published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Veterinary Association.)

Introduction: The Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the UK provides UK equivalent Core Medical Training (CMT), now Internal Medicine Training (IMT), with six partners internationally. The objective of this study was to support the quality management and accreditation of those programmes., Methods: A short, simple trainee questionnaire was designed and implemented online to produce data that could be compared with the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board (JRCPTB) analysis of the UK national General Medical Council (GMC) questionnaire. Survey included first three of the current six international partners of JRCPTB: one site in Iceland and the other two in India. Over 90% trainee engagement was achieved, and the results are compatible and related to the UK experience. No serious issues were identified that need immediate action and the output was used for discussion about training and service at all three sites. Good satisfaction with the programme was found in all three sites., Conclusion: A simple online questionnaire can have good engagement with trainees on an international basis and produce useful information that helps trainees and trainers discuss the care of their patients and improve training., Competing Interests: No conflict of interests declared