Responding to NHS England plans to save £200 million a year by cutting unessential surgical procedures, BMA council chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: “Doctors welcomed news of a long-term funding settlement for the NHS but this latest development will seem a tough pill to swallow.
“While it’s correct some surgical procedures are now shown to be clinically ineffective, the prime minister’s investment should allow patients to get the care they expect from the NHS, and allow doctors to provide the care they need, not ration it. The promised funding is well short of what’s needed to do this and far behind funding of comparable European economies.
“In a recent BMA survey, three quarters of doctors said that financial targets still override patient care, while the board agendas of NHS organisations across the UK remain obsessed with balancing unbalanceable books.
“Rather than cut services, the government's priority should be to stop the scandalous waste of billions of taxpayer money on the damaging NHS market in England, pointless fragmentation of NHS services and outsourcing deals that disrupt patient care.”
* British Medical Association https://www.bma.org.uk/
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