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-----Original Message----- Subject: Date for your diaries: 'Topup' payments in the NHS Apologies for cross posting. Please find enclosed details of an event we're organising in September. Thanks. ************* Date for your diaries: Friday 18th September, 1200 - 1600. The Applied Health Economics Group and London School of Economics present: "Top Ups" in the NHS: a necessary evil? In November 2008, Prof Mike Richards reported the results of his review to "examine if, when and in what circumstances patients should be able to purchase additional drugs that are not funded by the NHS". DH guidance published March 2009 clarified that no patient should have their NHS care withdrawn if they choose to buy additional private care, but that such care must be delivered separately from NHS care. Is this an affront to the founding principle of the NHS of access based on need not ability to pay? Or is it churlish (and indeed unethical) to deny a patient a drug that could extend their life, even by a matter of only weeks, when they are willing to pay for it? This event will clarify the law surrounding so-called 'top-up' payments both before and after the Richards review, and explore the issues and the practical impact of the policy on the NHS, patients and industry. The afternoon will finish with a debate "This house believes top-up payments in the NHS are a necessary evil", with each side argued by a leading academic health economist. Friday 18th September 2009, 1300-1600, London School of Economics Lunch from 1200. More details to follow or please email [log in to unmask] The Applied Health Economics Group meets twice a year, in London & York, and is a forum for NHS staff and academics to discuss topical issues in health economics of relevance to the NHS. For more information on AHEG please contact Richard Little, [log in to unmask] -- Ed Wilson Lecturer in Health Economics Health Economics Group Faculty of Health University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ Tel: +44 1603 591444 Fax: +44 1603 593752 http://www.uea.ac.uk/~wm096 Please access the attached hyperlink for an important electronic communications disclaimer: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/secretariat/legal/disclaimer.htm