Waiting times for scans to decrease, vows Department of Health
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《英国医生杂志》
Patients in England and Wales will have the option to change hospitals for quicker diagnostic scanning by the end of this year, the UK Department of Health has announced. Patients who wait for a long time for their first non-urgent diagnostic scan will be offered a different location for faster service. In November, patients with waiting times of more than 20 weeks for magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scans will have the option to move scanning locations. By April 2006, the offer will be extended to patients with 16 week waits, and eligible scans will include bone densitometry and ultrasound scans as well.
Both NHS providers and private providers working for the NHS are eligible to receive these transferred patients. Private sector mobile magnetic resonance imaging machines are already being used to increase NHS scanning capacity.
The implementation of this programme is part of a larger plan to upgrade diagnostics. Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt estimated that the NHS will spend ?.4bn ($4.19; �3.47) on diagnostics in the next five years.
"I want to make sure that no patient has to wait longer than necessary for their scan if there is somewhere else in the NHS or independent sector that can provide it more quickly," said Ms Hewitt.
"This scheme will help to tackle this 慼idden waiting list.?It is an important step on the way towards our goal of a total maximum wait of 18 weeks from surgery door to hospital treatment by 2008, which includes time for any diagnostic tests that are needed," she added. She also emphasised that patients valued choice, as shown by studies of past NHS endeavours.
But the involvement of the private sector concerned Paul Miller, chairman of the BMA抯 consultants?committee. "We should concentrate our funding on NHS scanners first of all before diverting funds away into private sector providers. There are many hospitals around the country that have got really severe financial problems, and if they lose a block of funding to a private sector provider that is only going to make the situation worse," Dr Miller said.
"We think the NHS can do more for the money than the private sector units. Generally, we know that private providers have been costing more than the NHS," said Dr Miller.
The announcement follows on the heels of a ?0m three year investment in diagnostics in Scotland. The Scottish Executive announced in June that waiting times for magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, and other scans should be no more than nine weeks by the end of 2007. The Scottish scanning programme is also run jointly through the private sector.(BMJ Allison Barrett)
Both NHS providers and private providers working for the NHS are eligible to receive these transferred patients. Private sector mobile magnetic resonance imaging machines are already being used to increase NHS scanning capacity.
The implementation of this programme is part of a larger plan to upgrade diagnostics. Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt estimated that the NHS will spend ?.4bn ($4.19; �3.47) on diagnostics in the next five years.
"I want to make sure that no patient has to wait longer than necessary for their scan if there is somewhere else in the NHS or independent sector that can provide it more quickly," said Ms Hewitt.
"This scheme will help to tackle this 慼idden waiting list.?It is an important step on the way towards our goal of a total maximum wait of 18 weeks from surgery door to hospital treatment by 2008, which includes time for any diagnostic tests that are needed," she added. She also emphasised that patients valued choice, as shown by studies of past NHS endeavours.
But the involvement of the private sector concerned Paul Miller, chairman of the BMA抯 consultants?committee. "We should concentrate our funding on NHS scanners first of all before diverting funds away into private sector providers. There are many hospitals around the country that have got really severe financial problems, and if they lose a block of funding to a private sector provider that is only going to make the situation worse," Dr Miller said.
"We think the NHS can do more for the money than the private sector units. Generally, we know that private providers have been costing more than the NHS," said Dr Miller.
The announcement follows on the heels of a ?0m three year investment in diagnostics in Scotland. The Scottish Executive announced in June that waiting times for magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, and other scans should be no more than nine weeks by the end of 2007. The Scottish scanning programme is also run jointly through the private sector.(BMJ Allison Barrett)