AS the economic crisis deepens, the drive to privatise the NHS is being stepped up on a number of fronts. One is the growing practice of co-payments, which are banned under the NHS code of practice. An NHS hospital is not allowed to ‘mix and match’ between free NHS and paid for private care.
The BBC last week released a survey showing that 30 NHS hospitals were offering their patients private treatment to complete treatment that was too expensive for the NHS.
The BMA, doctors trade union, sought to look both ways on this issue, declaring on the one hand that ‘The BMA has always expressed compassion for patients seeking to self fund part of their care and at our annual conference, doctors voted that patients should be able to do so without losing their right to free NHS treatment.’
The BMA did not mention that, also at their annual conference, delegates voted against a clause which said that the conference ‘demands that the government must permit co-payment for treatment in the UK health service.’
Delegates voted with their compassionate hearts in the first case, but voted with their heads in the second case, understanding that such a practice if it is allowed officially will bring in a two tier NHS, not very much different from what takes place in the USA today.
Lo and behold we didn’t have to wait too long to see where this attack on the NHS is leading.
Yesterday’s bourgeois media was announcing that the government is to announce that it will permit top up payments for all NHS patients.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson is set to announce that patients can pay for private treatment while receiving care from the NHS.
The BMA and all NHS trade unions must oppose this development and tell the Health Secretary that they will refuse to operate it.
Otherwise the NHS will be on the road to providing the most basic treatments, with patients having to pay for the rest. As the economic crisis gets more and more serious, and the Brown government hands out more and more cash to the bankers and the bosses, it will become more and more determined to push through this major privatising measure.
It must be resisted at all costs. Likewise, with the scandal of Primary Care Trusts who are handing out cash to GPs not to refer patients to hospitals.
Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) has introduced a policy which means doctors’ surgeries can be rewarded for reviewing and reducing referral rates.
An average sized practice can earn up to £20,000 extra per year.
The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre’s Patient Support Group said the scheme is detrimental to patients and branded it as ‘absolutely ridiculous’.
If doctors hit their targets, Oxfordshire PCT would pay out £1.2m, but it said that was justified because increasing hospital referrals were costing the trust £6m.
Surgeries with 10,000 patients are to get £10,000 to review referral procedures, and up to £10,000 more for reducing rates.
Sue Woollacott, chairman of the Nuffield patient support group, said: ‘I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.’
Dr Laurence Buckman, chairman of the British Medical Association’s GP Committee, said: ‘I don’t think that patients’ services should be treated as a commodity which is incentivised if you don’t do something.
‘A large number of patients are referred to hospital for investigation. If you don’t know what’s wrong with the patient you cannot know how to handle the problem.’
Correct. Patient care is to suffer in order to cut down the numbers of patients going to hospital.
This falls in line with the government’s plans to shut down large numbers of District General Hospitals and to replace this vital medical service with what is being termed ‘care in the community’, to be carried out by visiting ‘medical practitioners’.
The BMA must take action, as must all NHS trade unions, to stop co-payments being used to privatise the NHS and also to stop the cash payments to turn people away from hospitals.
The trade unions must call a general strike to bring down the Brown government, to bring in a workers government that will kick out the privateers and nationalise the drug companies, so that all NHS treatment is free at the point of need.