The thin end of the wedge?

[Wyvern]

Practices advertise private treatments as NHS cuts services

THe NHS isnt beng privatised. It just that if you dont have the money you wont get the treatment

 

[Greenback]

This is exactly the sort of thing that will become commonplace if the NHS reforms go through.

 

[Oswyntail]

This is essentially GPs breaking the rules on offering their own services privately, and using the current tsunami of "NHS to be privatised" stories to scare their patients. The NHS is not being privatised;healthcare has always been rationed according to cost and local needs (of course); there have been private companies providing services bought in for the NHS for decades. Opposition to the reforms has been whipped up mainly by: opposition MPs (who seem not to realise that much of what is proposed simply develops what their lot were doing); unions (including Royal Colleges); the media; some hospital consultants (who do not wish to see their empires controlled)

 

[SS4]

I suggest that any changes to the NHS be backed by a referendum. Then the Tories will get their just desserts with emotional scare tactics used against them

To paraphrase "She needs a new maternity unit, not a bank bailout"

 

[Wyvern]

That's not the message I'm getting.

But then I read the Guardian and the Independent

 

[Greenback]

GP's have always informed patients of the possibilities and availability of private treatment. My mother was offered a private appointment with a consultant when she was a suspected cancer patient.

What we have hjere though, is a more sinister development. GP's will, in effect, be recommending their own services on a private basis. What safeguards will there be to prevent a doctor telling a patient that the local NHS board doesn;t offer the treatment, or that ther eis a two year waiting list, but if you want to, I can do the procedure in a fortnight for £250?

I regret to say that my mum wasn't given up to date and accurate info about the likely waiting time for an NHS appointment. Whether this was deliberate, I obvioulsy couldn't say, but it is something I am concerned about.

 

[Oswyntail]

GP's have always informed patients of the possibilities and availability of private treatment. My mother was offered a private appointment with a consultant when she was a suspected cancer patient.

What we have hjere though, is a more sinister development. GP's will, in effect, be recommending their own services on a private basis. What safeguards will there be to prevent a doctor telling a patient that the local NHS board doesn;t offer the treatment, or that ther eis a two year waiting list, but if you want to, I can do the procedure in a fortnight for £250?

I regret to say that my mum wasn't given up to date and accurate info about the likely waiting time for an NHS appointment. Whether this was deliberate, I obvioulsy couldn't say, but it is something I am concerned about.

Yes, there are dodgy salesmen around, whether dealing in used cars or health care.
I must declare an interest here, in that Mrs O is closely involved in drafting the bill and amendments. I can safely say I have probably read more of the bill itself than most journalists!

 

[Wyvern]

. . . . . Opposition to the reforms has been whipped up mainly by: opposition MPs (who seem not to realise that much of what is proposed simply develops what their lot were doing); unions (including Royal Colleges); the media; some hospital consultants (who do not wish to see their empires controlled)

Well this is a blog by someone who is not one of the above, but has been at the centre of patient advocacy for many years.

http://blog.plain-sense.co.uk/

 

[Greenback]

Well this is a blog by someone who is not one of the above, but has been at the centre of patient advocacy for many years.

http://blog.plain-sense.co.uk/

I am not a big fan of blogs but everyone should read this one. I don't agree with everything it says, but anyone with an itnerest in the NHS will find it very informative.

 

[SS4]

Well this is a blog by someone who is not one of the above, but has been at the centre of patient advocacy for many years.

http://blog.plain-sense.co.uk/

That's a sensible blog and well written