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November 1999

News

Guidelines help define cause of cerebral palsy

No evidence that stress causes cancer

Editorial

Most cerebral palsy cases originate before labour

Dr Matthew Lockyer, general practitioner, Suffolk

Letters

Locality protocol has many potential advantages

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

Personal View

Time to take a fresh look at learning disability

Guidance on primary care for people with learning disability stresses the importance of awareness, reports Dr Charles Sears

Guideline Development

Asking three simple questions will help improve asthma care

Dr Christine Bucknall describes how the RCP developed three patient-focused outcomes that would act as a prompt to review treatment

Guideline Implementation

Guidance raises GP awareness of colorectal cancer

Dr Tom Kennedy describes how guidelines on colorectal cancer designed to improve detection in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients have helped his practice

Audit

Practice audit leads to improved care for asplenic patients

Audit of asplenic patients in Dr Ian Heatley's practice highlighted the need to offer vaccinations and antibiotic prophylaxis to all post-splenectomy patients

IT Developments

Proposed minimum data set could improve collation of guidelines

Dr Martyn Read outlines his proposals for a minimum data set that could be used as the starting point for a computerised database of clinical guidelines

Tips on Guideline Use

How to ensure that your guideline is used

Dr Mark Charny discusses strategies for maintaining long-term change, in the ninth article in this series

Questions & Answers

Your problems solved

Our editorial board answer your questions on keeping your guidelines up to date and the feasibility of'off-the-shelf' guidelines

Out of Hours

Guidelines for use of the vernacular

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