Monday, May 31, 2010

Money and medicine in Britain's National Health Service

The London Times reports NHS bars woman after she saw private doctor

"A WOMAN has been denied an operation on the NHS after paying for a private consultation to deal with her severe back pain.
Jenny Whitehead, a breast cancer survivor, paid £250 for an appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon after being told she would have to wait five months to see him on the NHS. He told her he would add her to his NHS waiting list for surgery.
She was barred from the list, however, and sent back to her GP. She must now find at least £10,000 for private surgery, or wait until the autumn for the NHS operation to remove a cyst on her spine. "

The managing of waiting lists for scarce resources is a tough business.

2 comments:

  1. A patient waiting for a long time is a bad thing. They should be operated when they require.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Health care service in GB is not working!

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.