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22/01/2010
Warning Over Personal Health 'Budgets'
Plans to allow patients to pay directly for services could undermine equality in the NHS in England, the British Medical Association (BMA) claimed today.
It also said the move would create a new layer of bureaucracy, divert funding to unproven treatments, and result in some patients not getting the care they need.
The Department of Health in England is currently exploring the possibility of personal health budgets.
One option would be for some patients, for example those with long-term conditions, to hold their own budget and pay directly for NHS services.
The BMA today claimed this would put a further administrative burden on Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and could result in an "inequitable" system that funds services or treatments for patients who hold a personal budget, but not for those who do not.
Allowing patients to have money 'banked' could encourage them to save it 'for a rainy day' rather than spending what they need on their care, the BMA said.
Its chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum said: "We believe in choice and flexibility for patients but these plans are worrying for a range of reasons.
"Apart from the practical difficulties and added bureaucracy involved, direct payments would take us even further towards a model where healthcare is a commodity to be bought and sold rather than something to which people are entitled.
"These proposals potentially undermine the principle of equal access on which the NHS is based."
(PR/GK)
It also said the move would create a new layer of bureaucracy, divert funding to unproven treatments, and result in some patients not getting the care they need.
The Department of Health in England is currently exploring the possibility of personal health budgets.
One option would be for some patients, for example those with long-term conditions, to hold their own budget and pay directly for NHS services.
The BMA today claimed this would put a further administrative burden on Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and could result in an "inequitable" system that funds services or treatments for patients who hold a personal budget, but not for those who do not.
Allowing patients to have money 'banked' could encourage them to save it 'for a rainy day' rather than spending what they need on their care, the BMA said.
Its chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum said: "We believe in choice and flexibility for patients but these plans are worrying for a range of reasons.
"Apart from the practical difficulties and added bureaucracy involved, direct payments would take us even further towards a model where healthcare is a commodity to be bought and sold rather than something to which people are entitled.
"These proposals potentially undermine the principle of equal access on which the NHS is based."
(PR/GK)
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