OP call falls on deaf ears

09 April 1998

OP call falls on deaf ears

ONLY three doctors attended an organophosphate (OP) conference in Devon, to which every GP from west Somerset to the Isles of Scilly had been invited by Devon Womens Farming Union.

The meetings main aim was to inform GPs about the symptoms of chronic OP poisoning and where to seek specialist advice. So it was very disappointing that so few doctors turned up, said meeting chairman Barbara Anning.

Frequent references during the conference to GPs lack of knowledge confirmed that it was still a widespread problem, despite much publicity.

Immediately after the meeting, Anthony Gibson, the NFUs south-west regional director, called for the establishment of a diagnostic centre to which suspected OP sufferers could be referred by their doctors.
He said OP poisoning had become the most serious occupational health problem in agriculture.