12 December 2003
The government's planned extension of patient choice will work only if there is a 'fundamental' change in the relationship between patients and health care professionals, the NHS Confederation said this week.
The NHS is beginning to introduce choice over where and when patients receive non-emergency surgery, but this week Health Secretary John Reid said choice would be extended to primary care services – those provided by GP surgeries, pharmacies and others outside hospitals.
Next year, patients will be able to receive repeat prescriptions from their pharmacist for up to a year without having to go back to their GP. New IT will allow them to pick up repeat prescriptions from any pharmacy in England by December 2007.
Commuters may be given the right to register with a GP near their place of work rather than their home. However, primary care trusts will be keen to clarify whether 'home' or 'work' PCTs would pay for these GP services. Reid said it was likely a patient's home PCT would be responsible for out-of-hours care.
Next year, the Department of Health will also invite the independent sector to bid for a new network of diagnostic centres that will provide services such as blood tests and X-rays. Reid stressed they would only be given the green light where they represented value for money and offered additional capacity.
NHS Confederation chief executive Gill Morgan backed the plans. But she added: 'Making patient choice a reality across the service requires a fundamental culture change in the relationship between patients and professionals. We need to focus not just on neat policy interventions, but how we can work within the service to bring about this culture change.'
The proposals were made in response to the results of the national consultation on patient choice, published by patient czar Harry Cayton this week. Public Finance understands the department was taken aback by some of the suggestions made by patients.
These included the introduction of a direct payment scheme, similar to that used in some social services, to allow chronically ill patients to choose the services they receive. Reid has ruled this out, but Cayton urged patient groups to press for more choice.
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