Non-critical ops cost patients thousands
ASHOCKING price list for an NHS hospital has sparked patient fears that ‘privatisation is already here’ and prompted the trust to pause the scheme for review.
Patients have expressed concerns at the price list now in place at NHS Warrington and Halton Hospitals Trust – which means patients paying as much as £8,500 for some operations.
The trust introduced the My Choice system in 2013, initially just for patients who had been denied varicose vein procedures.
But from 2018, the list of procedures being marketed for thousands of pounds has become hugely extended – to include operations like knee and hip replacements, hernia treatments, carpal tunnel operations, steroid injections and even treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding.
The operations will take place at Warrington Hospital, Halton Hospital in Runcorn and the Cheshire And Merseyside Treatment Centre.
The trust says its My Choice service offers an ‘affordable, self-pay’ service for patients denied NHS procedures classified by commissioners to be ‘low clinical priority.’
It said: “Originally created in 2013 to enable patients denied varicose vein procedures, the service has been significantly extended to include the large number of procedures no longer available on the NHS.
“As well as enabling affordable, convenient
access for our patients, this will enable the trust to make use of spare capacity and will generate additional income for the hospitals.”
The trust insists My Choice is not a private patients service, stating: “All procedures are carried out as part of the trust’s normal elective programme.”
But while the trust may point out that the prices on offer are lower than those offered by private health providers, others have expressed concern at what they feel is a move to privatisation in the NHS.
One patient took to Facebook to state: “Privatisation is already here. Several of the operations I’ve had are listed including a knee arthroscopy I had a few years ago when I couldn’t work for months.”
She added that she was ‘horrified’ to see that treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding was on the list and described the whole move as ‘immoral.’
Another added: “So no knee/hip replacements for those that genuinely need them?”
While the market the trust may service as ● ‘affordable’, some of the procedures it is offering can cost as much as £8,500.
There are further privatisation fears concerning Halton General Hospital.
Weaver Vale MP Mike Amesbury said he has been informed that the contract for the urgent care unit at the hospital would no longer be provided by its existing NHS supplier.
A sample of the procedures being marketed is below:
Revision replacement £8,447
Hip replacement surgery – £7,060 Hip resurfacing – £7,060 Circumcision – £2,000 Removal of haemorrhoidal skin tags – £1,319 Consultations – £180 Removal of adenoids – £1,931 Ear pinning – £2,331 Surgical treatment of hernias without symptoms – £2,541
Dilation and curettage – £1,187
In response to the criticisms. Mel Pickup, chief executive of the trust said: “The trust does not charge NHS patients for NHS of knee surgery – funded procedures. Not all healthcare services are funded by the NHS.
“These services are referred to as Criteria Based Clinical Treatments (previously called Procedures Of Low Clinical Priority).
“It is not the role of hospitals to determine which services are funded and which are not. This is the role of NHS commissioners. Therefore, where a patient wishes to have a procedure that is not funded by the NHS they can approach the private sector.
“Therefore, the trust, like the majority of hospitals is now offering selffunding procedures to their patients.
“The trust launched the My Choice service in September 2018, a self-pay service to enable access for our patients for these services.
“Also included on the list are procedures which are available on the NHS with strict criteria set by the commissioners.
“By offering them via our My Choice service it makes them more accessible for patients who otherwise would not qualify for them under commissioner guidelines.
“Procedures such as hip and knee replacements and cataract removal operations remain available on the NHS in the usual way if the criteria are met.
“We are now also able to offer these procedures via our My Choice service to make them more accessible for patients who otherwise would not qualify for them under commissioner guidelines.
“Dilatation and Curettage (D and C) is no longer a procedure on its own; the trust has never offered D and C for miscarriage via My Choice. The procedural name for surgical management of miscarriage which is currently available in the trust as an NHS procedure is evacuation of the uterus or evacuation of retained products of conception.
“My Choice enables patients to pay (self-fund) to have these procedures undertaken at our hospitals based on the national NHS price.
“As well as enabling affordable, convenient access for patients, this will enable the trust to generate additional income to support our other NHS services.
“My Choice is by the NHS, for the NHS. My Choice patients are treated as part of the Trust’s normal elective programme, there are no special privileges and they simply occupy a slot on a scheduled list. There are no private rooms and they will join the same waiting list as other NHS patients.”
The trust has now paused the scheme for review following an outcry.