Cancer patients paid to go private

Monday, 29 June 2009 12:00 AM

By Liz Stephens

Gordon Brown is expected to announce a significant expansion of private sector involvement in the healthcare service today.

The move, which will be seen as a climbdown by opposition parties, will form part of the Building Britain's Future document which is due to be published today.

The changes will mean if a primary care trust (PCT) is unable to give cancer patients a specialist appointment within two weeks of referral from a GP, it will have to provide equivalent funding for a private consultation.

The two-week target was first introduced for suspected breast cancer cases in 1999, and extended to all cancers in 2000.

In practice the measure is only expected to affect a few hundred patients, as nearly all NHS trusts in England meet the deadline.

However, research has indicated that five-year survival rates in the UK are still lower than the European average.

Andrew Lansley, shadow health secretary, said: "Just as Labour say they are going to scrap national targets they are proposing to create another target which threatens to distort clinical activity."

Meanwhile, BMA chairman, Dr Hamish Meldrum warned the government "don't play around with our health service".

"It's not a toy you cast aside and replace with the latest product off the shelf when you've tired of it. It needs looking after," he said.

Currently only elective surgery such as hip replacements and cataract surgery is provided through private treatment.

Tags:
• health
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• nhs
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• nhs spending
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• private healthcare