Health secretary Frank Dobson said this week he was 'extremely concerned about the increasing tide of litigation besetting the health service' and that it was affecting the way doctors practised. He told the Commons select committee on public administration that he was looking for ways to 'prevent the health service being overwhelmed with lawyers' as had happened in the US. But he said he had reservations about a formal compensation scheme which might lead some people who had been happy with an apology or similar action from a trust to seek money.

GPs would not be 'herded willy-nilly' into primary care groups without so much as a 'by-your-leave', health minister Alan Milburn told a conference on the future of commissioning last week. Guidance on the formation of the groups is expected to be issued within the next few days, the NHS Executive said this week.

The National Association of Commissioning GPs is to poll members on changing its name. One option is to call it the National Association of Primary Care Organisations.

An alliance of health unions was launched this week to increase the influence of health professionals in both the NHS and the trade union movement. Members of the Alliance for Health Professionals are the British Dietetic Association, British Orthoptic Society, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists and Society of Radiographers.

The government announced plans last week to introduce an independent regulation system for domiciliary care that will assess both local authority and private homes against a new set of regulatory standards. NHS Confederation special projects manager Chris Vellenoweth welcomed the move.