Those interested might also read the report on top ups of the Select
Committe on Health of the House of Commons I confess I was one of their
advisers!)
On Jul 13 2009, A. Tawfik-Shukor wrote:
>Many of you will be interested by the new BMJ analysis by Ellen Nolte et al
>(abstract below):
>
> Desai M, Nolte E, Mays N, Nikolentzos A. *International experience of
> paying for expensive medicines*. BMJ. 2009 May 29;338:b1993
>
>Abstract:
>
> The use of so called top-up payments for drugs that are not available on
> the National Health Service has caused controversy. Some people believe
> that it will result in increased access to medications while others warn
> that such payments contradict the founding principles of the NHS and may
> lead to greater inequalities. Mike Richards's review Improving access to
> medicines for NHS patients and the government's response to the review
> have acknowledged that additional payments, which are already used in a
> non-uniform manner, must be accepted into practice. The review does,
> however, recognise that the right to pay for additional specialist care
> that is not funded by the NHS should be invoked rarely so as to minimise
> compromising the founding principle of the NHS-namely, to provide a
> comprehensive service to all on the basis of need, not ability to pay.
>
> The Department of Health has set out a series of safeguards to ensure
> that patients opting to pay for additional private care do not lose their
> entitlement to NHS care while minimising the risk of public funds being
> used to subsidise private care. We discuss some of the challenges posed
> by these new proposals and their implications for the NHS against the
> background of international experience.
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