Diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease could be revolutionised on the NHS if it embraces genetic testing, the government`s genetics adviser has claimed.

Prof Sir John Bell said patients would pay the price if the NHS misses out on genetics, when he presented a report on how advances in the field should be prepared for. Prof Bell has long advocated the adoption of genetic tools, while he has called on ministers to have current and new staff in NHS jobs trained in genetics.

Plans to speed up the introduction of genetic cancer tests have been announced by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.

A problem in modern medicine is that the definitions of some diseases are too broad.

"Breast cancer has always been defined because it is a tumour in the breast," said Prof Bell, speaking to the BBC. "But if you look at the molecular detail of those cancers, some are much more similar to ovarian cancers than they are to other breast cancers, in molecular terms and in terms of their response to therapy."

The report states that cancer drugs are generally effective in less than a third of patients who take them. But the theory is that by analysing which genes are active inside a tumour, picking the correct treatment will be made possible.

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Higher levels of job satisfaction and a preference for overseas lifestyle is tempting doctors who emigrate to remain in their adopted country, a survey has suggested.

Nine out of 10 UK-trained doctors in GP jobs and other positions decided to stay in New Zealand for the foreseeable future when surveyed, even though only a third originally intended to leave the UK permanently. The study of doctors working in New Zealand was published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Doctors who emigrated to New Zealand rated their leisure time and job satisfaction significantly higher than doctors who remained in the UK working in NHS jobs, the survey found.

Oxford University statistician Trevor Lambert, who led the research team, said: "This study provides a snapshot which may be relevant to the broader community of UK-trained doctors who have emigrated to other high-income countries."

The issue is particularly import to the UK, which has become a net exporter of doctors to other developed countries such as the US, Australia and Canada. However, the UK remains reliant on international medical graduates coming over from other countries, mostly from the developing world.

"Workforce retention, even between developed countries, is important for global health equity; if a developed country has a net loss of doctors to other developed nations, there is a greater likelihood that it will make up the shortfall by recruiting from the developing world," added Mr Lambert.

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Councils will be handed more than £2 billion to look after the health needs of their local population under new plans, it has been announced.

Local authorities will be handed responsibility for public health for the first time since the 1970s under the Government`s reforms of the NHS. Primary care services and other local bodies will be encouraged to focus on the needs of people in their local area, and their performance will be judged from a range of 66 outcome "indicators".

Councils will not be told which indicators they should focus on or how they go about improving them, but they will be held to account by data on their performance.

Included in the 66 indicators that councils will be asked to focus on are adult and childhood obesity, breastfeeding rates, the number of low birthweight babies and the proportion of teenagers aged below 18 who fall pregnant. They will also be asked to target the number of smokers, exercise rates among adults and admissions to hospital due to alcohol.

Reducing tooth decay among under-fives is among the dental jobs for councils, as well as targeting preventable sight loss and cancer screening rates.

Health secretary Andrew Lansley outlined the plans at a speech at the Faculty of Public Health.

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GPs have discussed how they will be involved in the modernising of the NHS at an event in the south of England.

The responsibility for commissioning health services for patients will come under the remit of people in GP jobs from April next year, should the Health and Social Care Bill be approved.

Some 88 GPs, who all serve as leaders of Care Commissioning Groups (CCGs), gathered to discuss their potential new roles at an event organised by the NHS South of England and NHS Commissioning Board. The GPs used the meeting to share their experiences and network, while they were also offered a range of development opportunities.

NHS South of England director of commissioner development Dominic Hardy said: "The event was part of a programme of work we are doing with GPs to help them prepare for the future. There were sessions on a broad range of topics ranging from involving patients in commissioning to working with local authorities and reducing health inequalities."

GPs also heard from NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson and from Dame Barbara Hakin, who is in charge of the handover of commissioning to GPs from Primary Care Trusts.

Dr Simon Dean said: "There are clearly a number of challenges ahead and this was a great opportunity to really think through what needs doing."

Copyright Press Association 2012