With complaints against nurses increasing, clinical risk manager Kate Taylor shares tips on how to decrease risks associated with delegation

“From the case files” features unusual cases and cases with strong learning points. Here we deal with a common question on the MPS helpline – how to deal with a father’s requests to access his child’s records.

Dr Gemma Lysycia charts a busy day in a gastro ward

Dr Clare Etherington, Clinical Lead for MAP at the RCGP, discusses the benefits of the new route to membership for established GPs

Good doctors apply clinical knowledge in a way that is legally and ethically correct – but all doctors can slip up. Here are survival tips for the top five medicolegal risks for junior doctors, writes Charlotte Hudson

MPS advisers answer real dilemmas from the advice line

Professor Sir Peter Rubin, Chair of the GMC, discusses the GMC’s latest campaign and online resource

Professor Nigel Sparrow, senior national GP advisor at the CQC, chats to Charlotte Hudson about the regulator’s new ratings for GP surgeries

Diane Baylis, MPS Clinical Risk Manager, discusses how protocols enable practice teams to practise the right way.

We asked our columnists for their views on CQC practice inspections.

Try these sample AKT questions provided by Dr Mahibur Rahman from Emedica

Learning how to manage a night shift will protect you and your patients, says Sara Dawson

Dr Thomas I Lemon explores the concept of deep space medicine and healthcare.

Dr Andrew Tresidder explores how to maintain professional detachment in a consultation, drawing on the psychological concepts around the Drama Triangle. He is a GP Patient Safety Lead for Somerset CCG, GP Appraiser, member of the Somerset Clinician Support Service, and member of the European Association of Physician Health. He is a former Somerset LMC rep and Bristol Medical School Academy GP Lead.

Mrs H was a 35-year-old teaching assistant who also had two school-aged children. She was obese with a BMI of 40. In 2006, she had seen Dr G with left knee pain. Dr G recorded that on examination her knee was tender over her medial joint line but was otherwise stable. He initially prescribed diclofenac and advised her to lose weight.

Protecting children is something that we all must play a part in, writes Professor Sir Peter Rubin

Dr Ishani Patel at Network Locum discusses how to mitigate the everyday risks that locum GPs face.

For a busy GP, any tool that can save time and labour is valuable. Charlotte Hudson chats with Dr Darach Ó Ciardha about the launch of GPBuddy.co.uk and its benefits for GPs and patients

Doctors face a number of challenges when prescribing: Sara Dawson explores some risk strategies and looks at a classic case of a drug name mix-up