The British Medical Association (BMA) has called on government to prioritise investment in NHS infrastructure over private healthcare providers.
The call follows a wide ranging speech from health secretary Sajid Javid in which he announced that people enduring excessively long wait times for NHS treatment will be offered a choice of alternatives including private hospital care.
Speaking at at the Royal College of Physicians in London yesterday, Javid announced people waiting more than 18 months will be given a new right to choose where they will be contacted to discuss an offer of alternative provisions.
This could involve the choice of treatment at a local or remote trust or private hospital. If a trust is further away transport and accommodation would be covered.
Javid added that by the end of the year people who are at risk of waiting 78 weeks will be contacted first and for trusts with the highest number of long waiters, and those who have been waiting more than two years, they will be contacted by the end of this month.
He also appeared to finally succumb to calls for an NHS workforce strategy, noting: “We also need – and we will have – a proper long-term workforce plan, so we can build our workforce and skills.”
A fully-funded long-tern NHS workforce strategy has been a key goal with vocal support from many organisations operating in and around the NHS but which, until now, the government had declined to provide.
Other announcements in Javid’s speech included a commitment for the NHS app to act as the new front door of the NHS as opposed to calling a GP, steps to improve prevention of cardiovascular disease and performance of cancer care with a 10 year cancer plan.
And he pledged more personalised care giving people with long term conditions and their families control of personal health budgets and the launch of a Health Disparities White Paper later this year to help prevent disease and reduce deep-seated inequalities.
Poor value for taxpayers
Responding to the speech, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, council chair at the BMA, said getting the best use of resources in the NHS must involve investing in the NHS which he contends is far more efficient than private providers.
“It should be totally clear by now that having to rely on the private sector to deliver NHS services too often represents very poor value for money for taxpayers, with several private providers having failed in the past resulting in them closing their doors to patients,” Nagpaul said.
“We should also be wary of private providers bidding for contracts which cherry-pick low risk patients while being unable to provide comprehensive care for those with more serious and complex needs.
“The right long-term strategy is proper investment in the NHS infrastructure and the government must ensure that contractual arrangements for independent providers are transparent, so public resource is not wasted on providers that do not deliver.”
According to Nagpaul, while digital NHS developments represent a critical part of the future of healthcare and is something the BMA has long called for, government must acknowledge the “chequered” history of investment in NHS IT.
“The government says the NHS App will become the front door to accessing personalised care but it needs to be urgently and dramatically improved if it is to play this role, not least to allow it to provide patients with the correct information to make informed decisions about their care.”
Investment in frontline staff
And Nagpaul added that fundamentally the public will want to see the additional investment from the health and care levy being invested in frontline staff.
“Many will therefore be concerned to see that for the almost £36bn promised over the next three years for health and social care spending, nothing has been mentioned in today’s plan about how to boost staffing,” he continued.
“In addition, there remains a complete lack of clarity about what will happen for NHS funding after those three years. The NHS is currently facing a financial cliff-edge as that money transfers to deliver social care, with the government once more offering short-term solutions to long-term problems.”
He added: “We look forward to receiving further details about the proposals outlined today and how their delivery will be made possible by a credible workforce strategy.”