NHS funding overhaul will create conflict of interest between public health and private enterprise

Ok so it's taken me a couple of days to respond to Monday's news that the NHS is in for a dramatic shake-up (blame it on the weather, the heatwave wiped me out completely - it's weird to think of myself in the 'vulnerable' group when it comes to things like that).
 
But anyway while we were all busy eating lollies and loving the recent weather, the Government was preparing to launch a white paper called 'Liberating the NHS' that plans to radically alter the way the NHS is funded. It wants to give £80 BILLION directly to GPs to decide how best to spend it on patients, scrapping Patient Care Trusts (PCT) along with it.


I'm not a big fan of PCTs, they have a habit of implementing localised policy that goes against the decisions of NICE, the body governing what drugs and treatment should be available to patients nationwide. Last November I was told by my PCT that I was no longer allowed to be given a nebulised antibiotic called Colomycin as according to old medical guidelines it should only be given in a hospital environment. Except I, along with countless other people with lung conditions, have been taking it at home for two decades. So clearly this sudden decision was one based on saving money.

My GP called the PCT to protest: "Sharon needs easy access to her medicines to be able to concentrate on resting and staying well, not worrying about receiving the drugs she needs". Despite this call, the PCT still said no. (I still get this drug, via hospital, so the NHS has saved no money, the patient has merely been inconvenienced.)

So given that scenario the new plans in principle are an interesting idea. GPs know their patients well and can best decide what treatment they need. However the truth of the matter is that the NHS is still cash-strapped and always will be so my concern is that GPs will instead be faced with a conflict of interest - a patient needs a drug he knows he cannot afford to prescribe. What happens in that scenario? He keeps quiet and offers a cheaper alternative that he knows is less likely to do the job?

The new plans also include a patient being able to choose where to visit a GP, meaning they no longer need to live in their GP's catchment area. But in practice will this be allowed to work in reverse? Perhaps GPs will balance the books by limiting the number of 'expensive' patients they look after, and it's exactly these patients who will be too ill or too busy with time-intensive medical regimes to be able to travel far. It's long been documented how people struggle to find an NHS dentist, will the same soon be said of GPs?

The Government has said hospitals will be encouraged to move outside the NHS to become a "vibrant" industry of social enterprises. Effectively meaning they will need to 'pitch' for money from GPs and that their cap on how much private work they can do will be removed.

The idea is that hospitals will have to become very good at care to ensure they survive, as otherwise GPs won't refer their patients there. But instead they could feasibly cut their prices to lure in patients - meaning those hospitals that achieve less good results could ensure survival by offering services to GPs at prices that reflect this lower quality, in a similar way that lower-rated Universities can offer cheaper tuition fees to attract less well-off students. In addition, waiting lists for NHS patients could soar as hospitals prioritise private patients, who will be unlimited in number. Notably, the health secretary Andrew Lansley already abolished hospital waiting lists.

And there will be no "bail-outs" if a hospital overspends and goes bust. This is completely unacceptable. Social services are provided in a local area to provide access to the care that local people need. If a hospital is failing it should be helped to improve not just be allowed to fail and close down with no thought for the needs of the local community.

And what about patients like me? I never see my GP except for prescription renewals and a common cold. Instead I visit my hospital doctors at least once a month, they decide on my care plan and drug regime and tell the GP what I need. I have no idea how this scenario will be dealt with when GPs are meant to commission hospitals, not the other way round. But it adds to the overall concern towards the Government's plan: it's untested, unpiloted and is meant to be implemented in just 24 months time.

This blog raises a lot of questions I don't know the answer to, but I'm not sure if the Government does either.