23 August 2002
The row over health care rationing escalated this week after opposition MPs said the formation of a 'citizens' council' to inform NHS drug and treatment practices was a 'sham'.
Liberal Democrat health spokesman Dr Evan Harris said the decision by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to set up a public panel to consider which NHS drugs and treatments will be available to hospitals was 'patronising' and 'condescending' towards patients.
He told Public Finance: 'The government is effectively forcing Nice to create a small panel of public decision-makers so that the Department of Health can hide behind their decisions.'
Health care rationing has become a political hot potato in recent years. Scandals such as Nice's decision to prevent doctors from prescribing Beta Interferon – a costly drug used to treat multiple sclerosis – led lobby groups to call for more public involvement.
But Harris said it was the duty of experts at Nice, set up in 2001, to make such 'hard-headed evaluations', based on scientific data, of clinical treatments. Nice, he said, should submit its findings to the government, which should be accountable for the NHS only through the ballot box.
'While we need more public accountability in treatment rationing decisions, this is no such thing. It is a patronising fig leaf,' he said.
Nice announced on August 19 that its panel would comprise 30 members of the public. They will give their opinions on potential drug and treatment policies in England and Wales and also consider cost-effectiveness.
The Department of Health dismissed Harris's claims.
A spokeswoman said: 'It's no secret that we welcome the introduction of more public involvement in policy-making.
But Nice is an independent body – we do not force it to take a particular stance.'
A spokeswoman for Nice admitted that the organisation had been under pressure from the DoH to introduce more public involvement in line with the department's modernisation plan.
The findings of the recent Kennedy Report into child deaths at the Bristol Royal Infirmary also influenced the decision, she said. The report called for more public involvement across NHS bodies.
A spokeswoman for the British Medical Association said the BMA supported the new panel: 'We do not share MPs' concerns that these complex considerations are beyond the public – they will be working closely with experts who can inform them.'
PFaug2002
