NHS patients could be forced to pay for their bed and board in hospital unless there is a cash injection into health services after the next election, senior managers have warned in the Daily Telegraph. The NHS Confederation, which represents managers, said that without major reforms and an increase in investment, hospitals would become “swamped” with patients -while swathes of the population could be left without a GP. In an interview with The Telegraph, Rob Webster, the organisation’s chief executive, said preventing such a decline meant significant changes to the way the health service is run, with more investment in community care, small hospitals, and GP services while centralising some routine surgery. Speaking on LBC, NHAs Dr Clive Peedell made it clear: The NHS Confederation is absolutely right as we’re facing a £30bn funding gap which will put NHS services under huge pressure. But there are huge savings that can be made within the NHS even without a cash injection or making patients pay for bed and board. Billions of pounds are being wasted on the wonga-style PFI initative and on the market in health care, where GPs are having to buy care off hospitals. Charging patients for hospital, or GP services, is not the way to go. The cost of feeding patients is just fluff around the edges compared to the money wasted elsewhere.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Jun 2014 06:54:32 +0000
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