British To Ration Health Care

Britain's National Health Service is collapsing under it's own weight and has admitted it will have to begin rationing treatment that it can no longer afford to allow to be universal.

British doctors will take the historic step of admitting for the first time that many health treatments will be rationed in the future because the NHS cannot cope with spiralling demand from patients.

In a major report that will embarrass the government, the British Medical Association will say fertility treatment, plastic surgery and operations for varicose veins and minor childhood ailments, such as glue ear, are among a long list of procedures in jeopardy.

James Johnson, the BMA chairman, will warn that patients face a bleak future because they will increasingly be denied treatments. He will urge the NHS to be much more explicit about what it can realistically afford to do and ask political leaders to engage in an open, honest debate about rationing.

The BMA proposes the drawing up of a new patients' charter specifying those health services to which every citizen across England should be entitled, regardless of the local health authority's financial situation. They also want to see a second list of all the treatments which the sick will get only if their primary care trust has the money, and if doctors decide they are clinically worthwhile.

Senior BMA sources say their report recognises the reality that despite record investment in the NHS, 'postcode lotteries' are rife. Primary care trusts, the local NHS organisations that commission and pay for care from hospitals on behalf of patients, are increasingly rejecting requests to pay for procedures or drugs because they are not perceived to be the best use of funds. (Emphasis added)

Still think socialized medicine is a great idea? The tax money goes into the system but services don't come out the other end. There does not appear to be any way to appeal the decision of the bureaucrats when you are denied treatment, either. It will get quite a lot worse for Britons before it gets better. If it ever does.

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  By O'Dub, May 14, 2007 @ 1:43 pm

  Of course the liberals still think it’s a good idea. When a program fails it’s never because it was a bad idea to start with, their programs only fail for one of two reasons; 1) Not enough money was spent on the program; or 2) The right people weren’t running the program. Or a combination of the two.

Other Links to this Post

1. The Thunder Run — May 7, 2007 @ 10:38 am