THE BMA warned yesterday that the Health and Social Care Bill will lead to more ‘conflicts of interest’, after it emerged yesterday that a GP practice has been caught out touting for business.
The Haxby Practice in York, which serves 20,000 patients, has written to them stating that a range of treatments are no longer funded by the local NHS and if they want them done they will have to pay up to £250.
The letter lists a number of companies offering the private procedures, including one wholly owned by the Haxby Practice itself.
The letter offers treatments including removing skin tags for £56.30 and treating benign tumours for £243.20 and several others.
Dr Richard Vautrey, Deputy Chairman of the BMA’s GPs Committee, said: ‘The dire finances of many PCTs means that many more NHS treatments are likely to become unavailable in the future.
‘The BMA is very concerned by the potential conflicts of interest that this example exposes.
‘The last thing any GP wants is to see patient trust damaged. Unfortunately the direction of travel in NHS policy, particularly combined with the financial situation, does increase the risk of conflicts of interest for GPs, which is one the reasons the BMA is so concerned about the Health and Social Care Bill.’
Royal College of GPs chairman Dr Clare Gerada said: ‘We believe that the boundary between what a GP offers under their NHS provision, and what is offered for a private fee, is in danger of becoming increasingly blurred.
‘The NHS works because patients trust their doctors.
‘This is especially so with GPs, and is something we cannot allow to be diminished.’
Meanwhile, thousands of nurses and other health workers, along with education workers, joined picket lines across Northern Ireland in a 24-hour strike against huge budget cuts.
Patricia McKeown of Unison said the situation was ‘critical’, with the education budget facing cuts of £300 million and health being cut by £2.3 billion.
Striking nurse Jeannie Carson said: ‘There are more bed closures and bed closures lead to job cuts.
‘The people here are losing money with the pay freeze and everything else and the whole community is suffering.
‘We have to stand up for the health service.’