Top Surgeon calls for partial funding of NHS by patients |
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Sun, 14 Aug 2005 17:05
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LONDON - It appears that Dr Bernie Ribeiro, the new president of the Royal College of Surgeons has stirred up a hornet's nest by calling for an end to 'free' NHS and asking for patients to pay for the treatment received.
In an interview to The Daily Telegraph, Dr Ribeiro said, "We have a serious problem in trying to provide universal health care within our current structure of payment. This Government has refused to look at alternative methods, but you get what you pay for. If we're going to have a health care system suited to the future, we've got to be prepared to invest in it. I don't personally believe that can be done out of pure taxation." He said that the thinking behind the concept of the free universal health care system instituted in 1948 was that the health needs of the population would gradually wear out in that they would get fitter and healthier, "That hasn't happened," he observed. His comments assume added significance in the light of the fact that most NHS hospitals have ended in the red this year and have had their ratings downgraded.
Dr Ribeiro is of the opinion that patients should contribute a part of the cost towards the maintenance of the NHS, a model that is quite successful in France and Germany. "The public would be prepared to pay; it's a question of how you structure it. I would prefer to say we will give you the best emergency care possible, but you may not get all the elective work you want done on the state," he said. Dr Ribeiro also pointed out that Britain was not a poor country and that workers could afford to pay a part of their treatment costs, "The working population is reasonably well paid, we could afford our workers to make an identifiable contribution towards healthcare - not one hidden in national insurance and taxation," he pointed out.
However, Chancellor Gordon Brown has ruled out such a move and the unions are up in arms against the good doctor's comments, "This isn't the answer to the problem. The NHS is something the public is rightly proud of and I think any attempt to make people pay for their treatment would cause a public outcry. We've always believed healthcare should be free at the point of delivery for everybody that needs it," said a Unison spokeswoman. Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley admitted that reforms were certainly the need of the hour in the NHS but did not agree with Dr Riberio's comments.
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