---

March 1999

News

GP direct referral protocol cuts delay in UTI scans

WHO/ISH lower BP targets in new guidelines on hypertension

Editorial

RCP reports on the role of drugs for obesity

Dr John Muir, Woburn GP and member of the RCP obesity guidelines working party

Personal View

No definitive treatment for acute otitis media

Dr Charles Sears finds that there is still room for the art of medicine in the management of acute otitis media

Personal View

A pragmatic solution to child growth monitoring

Ratification of school entry as the UK's only universal measurement age should please everyone, as Tam Fry explains

Guideline Development

The SIGN route to better dementia care

Dr Iain McIntosh explains why guidelines on dementia management were urgently needed and how the SIGN guidelines should help to raise standards of care

Guideline Implementation

New guidelines provide good framework for treating depression

Recent guidelines on the treatment of depression in primary care are comprehensive and serve as a useful aide-memoire, reports Dr Rob Wicks

Guidelines and the Law

Could guidelines protect doctors against negligence claims?

In the second article in this series, Dr Brian Hurwitz discusses the nature of medical negligence and the role that clinical guidelines may play in such actions

Letters

Bleeding disorders may be a cause of menorrhagia

Guidelines in Practice welcomes letters; if would you like to share your views with other readers, please write in

Tips on Guideline Use

Do you need a guideline?

Guidelines will not solve every problem, as Dr Mark Charny explains in the second article in this series

Questions & Answers

Your problems solved

Our editorial board answer your questions on how best to draw up local guidelines and adapt national ones

Out Of Hours

Guidelines for giving an after-dinner speech

Dr Phil Hammond, GP, lecturer and presenter of BBC2's Trust Me, I'm a Doctor