treatment on the NHS
Posted by michael on June 28, 2009
The NHS is likely to become a major battle ground in the forthcoming election. For a start it is possibly the area that affects more people in the UK than any other.
The PM has said that the NHS will not suffer from monetary cuts. This could only be true if the extra money is taken from other spending requirements or the UK debt levels are increased.
Of course this extra spending will be from the NHS budgets. It would be at the expense of other departments and treatments for other people.
We haven’t seen the details for this pledge that:
Patients in England suspected of suffering from cancer will have the right to see a specialist within two weeks
What does it actually mean? How long does a person suspected of suffering from cancer have to wait at the moment? Perhaps most people in that situation see a specialist within a week at the moment!
What is meant by a ‘cancer specialist’? It should certainly mean that the person is a qualified oncologist. It probably won’t be a consultant but one of his team instead. If I was a consultant running a department then I would make sure that this initial appointment was with very junior members of the team!!!
This two week deadline may keep consultant oncologists busy with private work. But every penny spent on private fees is money being taken out of the NHS system!
Seeing a specialist and then actually receiving any treatment are two completely different things!
And what happens if a person sees a private specialist because there was no one available on the NHS? Do they then get referred back to the NHS once the New Labour pledge of a private appointment has been met? Or do they stay in the private health system for all of their treatment?
