Nice ideas but its a Canute job I'm afraid.
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] On Behalf Of John Salmon
Sent: Friday, January 09, 1998 5:41 PM
To: GP-UK List
Subject: Free market economics and medicine
There is an article in "The World In 1998" written by an American health
care
economist who predicts that free market forces will dictate how medicine =
is
delivered, initially in the USA and subsequently in the UK. I think this =
is
inappropriate for health care in the UK and will make it more expensive a=
nd
less
efficient. I felt compelled to write to The Economist and the letter is
below.
What do other GP-UK List subscribers think about this seemingly relentles=
s
march of
free market economics ?
Dear Sir,
I was interested to read the article in your annual magazine, The World I=
n
1998, by
Regina Herzlinger called "Shopping for your doctor". This indicated that
medical care
in the USA and subsequently in the UK was going to succumb to free market=
forces.
The article is in keeping with the philosophy of The Economist that the
free market
should apply throughout society because it induces fairness, efficiency a=
nd
a
reduction in costs.
I am a family physician in the UK. I strongly disagree that this simple
idea, when
applied to a subject as complicated as health care, will have these
desirable effects. I
do agree that patients should be fully informed and that monopolies,
notable in some
areas of medicine, should be curtailed.
If patient access to specialist investigation and treatment grows it will=
increase the cost of medicine. Evidence of this is already apparent.
Patients expectations have
risen dramatically in the last few years, encouraged by the Patients'
Charter, and this
has led to escalating costs.
Family doctors are a moderating influence on these rising costs and they
help patients
make intelligent choices of investigations and treatments. If the free
market were to
exert an increasing influence on medicine then costs would continue to ri=
se
and
become unsustainable. This could ultimately lead to the collapse of the
National
Health Service. =
Dr John Salmon
Southmead Surgery
Blackpond Lane
Farnham Common
Bucks SL2 3ER
Tel 01753 642156
Fax 01753 642157
Email [log in to unmask]
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