More stealthy NHS privatisation

I BELIEVE an NHS adviser is proposing that sick people should not be able to simply walk into an A&E hospital to receive treatment.

She proposes that a sick person must either get the go-ahead from their GP or telephone 111.

Also, a committee of doctors is being set up to monitor who is allowed to be treated in a hospital – it will no longer be left solely up to a GP.

Only if this committee agrees will a patient be allowed to be seen.

Both these changes, if fully implemented will have a very detrimental effect to not only potential sick patients but also to the hospitals themselves and probably also the ambulance service.

Both the latter are already stretched to breaking point.

Hospitals who are all already short of funds which is getting worse, are paid by results (PBR) ie it is directly related to the

number of patients who come through the front door. Both of the above actions will mean fewer patients and therefore lower payments.

Setting up a panel of doctors to monitor GP referrals will eat into the already overworked time of skilled clinicians and mean fewer available for frontline work.

By ringing 111 the ambulance service will have a higher number of calls which again will stretch their ability.

These alterations will be bad for patients, bad for doctors, bad for hospitals and bad for the ambulance service.

It is yet another example of privatising the NHS by stealth and an increasing number of people will seek private health care (if they can afford it).

I wonder what other devious plans Health Minister Jeremy Hunt will come up with? WJ CASEY, North Shields