"We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us. We were always more or less miserable, and most of our acquaintance were in the same condition.” -- Great Expectations
In terms of “learning” about healthcare reform from our British cousins, here’s lesson #1: Don’t believe everything (or anything) you heard on SiCKO. Lesson #2 is seeing CMS Administrator Dr. Donald Berwick in the role of Pip.
According to an investigation in the Daily Telegraph, at least 10 primary care trusts (PCTs) have told hospitals to increase the length of time before they see patients in order to save money.
In one case a manager said the policy keeps patients in line as “short waiting times also create more demand for treatment due to the expectations this raises."
In some areas, patients endured delays of 12 or 15 weeks after GPs decided they needed surgery, even though hospitals could have seen them sooner.
The maximum permitted time between referral and treatment is 18 weeks.
It comes after an NHS watchdog suggested that if patients are forced to wait a long time, they will remove themselves from lists “either by dying or by paying for their own treatment."
Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, said: “This practice is simply unacceptable and one of the many reasons we need to modernise the NHS and put patients’ interests first.
The complete article from The Telegraph can be found here.
“Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day." -- Great Expectations
Hat tip to Helen Evans at Nurses for Reform.
