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Presumably the belief is that these efforts will reduce costs and improve morbidity and mortality further down the line.I thought there was some evidence that efforts to reduce the effects of cardiovascular disease were worthwhile - however one might define that! Good advice re healthy lifestyle is already being widely disseminated.It will need a multi-pronged approach to encourage wider adoption by society,and highlighted individuals within it.Our input is part of a "prong",with huge players like food producers/manufacturers and urban planners.Perhaps we should welcome the idea that our service has a part to play? Ceridwen -----Original Message----- From: Clinical biochemistry discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of gordon challand Sent: 08 January 2008 18:58 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: ... more diagnostic procedures will be available in GP surger ies Dear Richard I think that a major problem with all this is that there appears to be a perception in the outside world that somehow introducing pre-symptomatic screening increases the number of healthy individuals (and hence reduces the health costs). The opposite is obviously true: any screening programme will place some subjects previously thought to be healthy into an 'at-risk' or 'sick' category who will then cause health costs (apart from causing individual concern, people who thought themselves healthy now find themselves categorised as sick). This belief of health screening as a 'reduction in sick patients' or as an overall 'reduction in costs' has been around for a long time including the original basis on which the NHS was founded; I personally became aware of it when 'well-person screening' was introduced as a DoH initiative in the late 1980s which simply led to a massive increase in the number of patients found to have a 'high' cholesterol and then placed on expensive statin treatment (and almost as expensive continuing laboratory monitoring, none of which was funded). At times I despair that anyone in the DoH will ever learn any lessons from what has gone before (and I am unwilling to devise any audit programme for the new developments suggested by one of the other Gordons!) . However, with all best wishes for 2008 Gordon Challand ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mainwaring-Burton Richard (RGZ)" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 4:31 PM Subject: Re: ... more diagnostic procedures will be available in GP surger ies > That gordon crossed my mind also. > Perhaps he (GC) will be good enough to devise a QA package for the > interpretative comments produced by the screening programme introduced by > GB > > with best wishes > Richard > Richard Mainwaring-Burton > Consultant Biochemist > Queen Mary's Hospital > Sidcup, Kent > 020-8308-3084 > > > -----Original Message----- > From: gordon challand [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: 07 January 2008 15:35 > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: ... more diagnostic procedures will be available in GP > surgeries > > Dear David > To which Gordon do you refer (there aren't too many of us about)? > Gordon Challand > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "David Bullock" <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Monday, January 07, 2008 3:18 PM > Subject: Re: ... more diagnostic procedures will be available in GP > surgeries > > >>I trust that Gordon will be taking note of best practice when evaluating >>the >> effectiveness of this screening programme . . . >> >> http://www.hta.ac.uk/execsumm/summ1152.htm >> >> Happy New Year >> >> David >> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: Jonathan Kay [mailto:[log in to unmask]] >>> Sent: 07 January 2008 10:15 >>> >>> http://politics.guardian.co.uk/gordonbrown/story/0,,2236473,00.html >>> <http://politics.guardian.co.uk/gordonbrown/story/0,,2236473,00.html> >>> >>> Brown will say that more diagnostic procedures will be available in GP >>> surgeries, making blood tests, ECGs and, in some cases, ultrasounds >>> available "when you want and need them". >>> >> >> >> Dr David Bullock >> Director, Wolfson EQA Laboratory >> P O Box 3909, Birmingham B15 2UE, U K >> FAX: 0121 414 1179 [+44 121 414 1179] >> >> ------ACB discussion List Information-------- >> This is an open discussion list for the academic and clinical >> community working in clinical biochemistry. >> Please note, archived messages are public and can be viewed >> via the internet. Views expressed are those of the individual and >> they are responsible for all message content. >> ACB Web Site >> http://www.acb.org.uk >> List Archives >> http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ACB-CLIN-CHEM-GEN.html >> List Instructions (How to leave etc.) >> http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/ >> > > ------ACB discussion List Information-------- > This is an open discussion list for the academic and clinical > community working in clinical biochemistry. > Please note, archived messages are public and can be viewed > via the internet. Views expressed are those of the individual and > they are responsible for all message content. > ACB Web Site > http://www.acb.org.uk > List Archives > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ACB-CLIN-CHEM-GEN.html > List Instructions (How to leave etc.) > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/ > > ------ACB discussion List Information-------- > This is an open discussion list for the academic and clinical > community working in clinical biochemistry. > Please note, archived messages are public and can be viewed > via the internet. Views expressed are those of the individual and > they are responsible for all message content. > ACB Web Site > http://www.acb.org.uk > List Archives > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ACB-CLIN-CHEM-GEN.html > List Instructions (How to leave etc.) > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/ > ------ACB discussion List Information-------- This is an open discussion list for the academic and clinical community working in clinical biochemistry. Please note, archived messages are public and can be viewed via the internet. Views expressed are those of the individual and they are responsible for all message content. ACB Web Site http://www.acb.org.uk List Archives http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ACB-CLIN-CHEM-GEN.html List Instructions (How to leave etc.) http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/ DISCLAIMER: The information in this message is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. Access to this message by anyone else is unauthorised. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, or distribution of the message, or any action or omission taken by you in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful. Please immediately contact the sender if you have received this message in error. Thank you. ------ACB discussion List Information-------- This is an open discussion list for the academic and clinical community working in clinical biochemistry. Please note, archived messages are public and can be viewed via the internet. Views expressed are those of the individual and they are responsible for all message content. ACB Web Site http://www.acb.org.uk List Archives http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ACB-CLIN-CHEM-GEN.html List Instructions (How to leave etc.) http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/