Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) have been told to ration hospital referrals as Britain’s Labour government scrambles to meet its pledge to cut waiting lists.
GPs have been ordered to delay referring at least one in four patients to hospital, in a move that Health officials say will reduce ‘unnecessary’ appointments and allow people with genuine need to see a specialist faster.
But local doctors and patients have warned the move could make it harder to access care, with some describing it as a blunt, target-driven system that risks delaying treatment.
The Telegraph reports: From Wednesday, family doctors will be ordered to review at least one in four referrals, rather than sending the patient straight to hospital.
They will be told to seek “advice and guidance” from a consultant on 25 per cent of cases, in an attempt to stop unnecessary referrals.
MPs and medics have raised concerns that setting an arbitrary target will delay patients from getting access to the healthcare they need.
Dr Luke Evans, the shadow health minister and a former GP, said: “My biggest concern is about this single point of access, with a target to bounce back one in four referrals – that is bad for clinicians and it is really bad for patients.
“It is hard not to see this as a way of Wes Streeting simply controlling access to hospitals and massaging waiting lists.
“We don’t even know if the planned 1 in 4 patients bounced back to the GP are recorded. Is Labour planning on effectively rationing secondary care – it seems like it.”
Over the past year, family doctors have been paid £20 extra for every case where they seek “advice and guidance” (A&G) from a consultant rather than sending a patient to hospital.
But from April 1, the A&G scheme, which aims to “support elective recovery by reducing unnecessary referrals”, will become mandatory in the NHS.
Experts said the new rules were dangerous and would make getting on to a waiting list even harder.
Dr Ankit Kant, a GP from West Norfolk, said some requests for A&G had taken eight months to receive a response, including a case where the patient died waiting. The guidance then concluded the patient had not needed to see a specialist.
Dr Katie Bramall, the chairman of the British Medical Association’s GP committee, said the risks of the scheme were “a huge concern for every single GP I meet and speak to. It should be a huge concern for every patient too.”
She said the policy was “awful for patients” and politically driven.
GPs have raised concerns that their decisions to refer patients are being overruled by doctors without proper knowledge of the cases, resulting in delays in diagnosis.