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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ColtonGang who wrote (167286)	8/2/2001 8:14:14 PM
From: Zoltan!	Respond to of 769670

Since you don't know anything I can't consider that an insult or a compliment. Just nothing from nothing.

To: ColtonGang who wrote (167286)	8/2/2001 8:17:22 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Respond to of 769670

The Wonders of Socialized Medicine NHS exports patients to Germany Nicholas Rufford and Dipesh Gadher HEALTH managers are preparing to defy the government by sending National Health Service patients for treatment in German hospitals to shortcut Britain's waiting lists. In the first deal of its kind in the NHS, officials in West Sussex, where patients face some of the longest delays, are proposing to send an initial 50 people to Germany for hip and knee replacements. The move, paid for out of public funds, is expected to begin an exodus of NHS patients to mainland Europe. At least six other regional health bodies are in talks with representatives of German or Belgian hospitals. The government believes patients should be treated in Britain but is facing pressure to back down over the issue following a report by the National Audit Office which criticised the way waiting list figures are manipulated. A recent ruling by the European Court of Justice also stated that patients had the right to seek treatment abroad if they faced "undue delay". Crawley primary care group (PCG), an arm of West Sussex health authority, said it was in the advanced stages of talks with GerMedic, a private health company representing 120 German hospitals. It has drawn up plans to fly patients from Gatwick to Düsseldorf. The 50 will be selected from patients, some in pain, who have already waited months for prosthetic hip or knee joints. They will be treated at the Lutherhaus hospital near Essen, one of Germany's most modern and best-equipped facilities. They can expect to share a ward with two other people from Britain and have access to British television channels, newspapers and menus. Brian Howard, chief executive of Crawley PCG, said he could not discuss arrangements in detail but sending patients abroad was the only practical way of meeting government targets to cut maximum inpatient waiting times for orthopaedic treatment from 18 to 15 months by March 2002. "Provided we secure funding, the first 50 patients could be on their way by the end of September or October," he said. The cost of each hip operation in Germany is expected to be £6,600, compared with just under £4,000 in Britain. The price includes return flights from the UK for the patient and a companion, taxis between the airport and hospital, operating fees and other medical costs. Patients will remain in hospital for 21 days - NHS patients are usually discharged much earlier - and companions are likely to be accommodated for seven days in a hotel or hospital guesthouse. The package price also covers treatment for subsequent complications and compares favourably with prices in the private sector in Britain, to which the NHS is already contracting out operations. Howard said he could not see why the Department of Health should object. "It is a European community, isn't it?" he said. "I can't see why, if there is a supply in one part of the system which enables another part to be supported for a temporary period, that capacity can't be used if it is cost-effective." He expects a deal to be agreed at a board meeting of West Sussex doctors and managers this week. Dr Ian McIntosh, senior partner at the Broadfield health centre in Crawley and a board member of the PCG, said he had discussed the issue with 10 of his long-standing patients who require orthopaedic and cataract surgery. "Their main concern was about becoming culturally isolated, but when I explained that they might go in groups of two or three, then that was not so bad," he said. "The waiting lists as things stand are unacceptable." The Department of Health has said its policy was not to send patients abroad but to improve standards of service in Britain. Doctors, MPs and health watchdogs have joined mounting criticism of the government's failure to cut waiting lists. The National Audit Office highlighted huge regional disparities in inpatient waiting times, with more than a third of West Sussex inpatients having to wait more than six months for surgery, compared with an English average of 11%. The NAO report also showed that consultants often felt under pressure to meet government waiting list targets by delaying more serious operations in favour of simpler ones. About 20 senior personnel from NHS trusts and primary care groups have visited hospitals in Belgium and Germany at their own expense during five trips in the past four months. These were organised by Euromedic, a British firm which matches patients' needs to suitable hospitals and arranges travel. Sue Leonard, acting deputy director for service agreements at Milton Keynes general NHS trust, inspected two hospitals in Germany and one in Belgium in May. "In the light of the Court of Justice ruling it is something we are ahead of the game on," she said. "We were very impressed with the way the hospitals were run and with the staff and their ability to speak English. They have something like 20% over-capacity." The German hospital consortium that is set to care for the first British patients said the level of care would be similar to that given to private patients. Axel Hollander, chief executive of GerMedic, said he had already had talks with health officials from East Lancashire, East Yorkshire, North Staffordshire, the West Midlands and Northamptonshire. sunday-times.co.uk