As the NHS continues to face on-going challenges and further constraints, it has been reported that The NHS restricted access to 125 treatments and kept 52,000 people off waiting lists to improve its waiting times statistics last year, the shadow health secretary Andy Burnham has claimed.
Addressing health minister Dan Poulter in the House of Commons, Burnham said there was evidence that NHS trusts have been limiting access to a number of treatments, including cataract removals, varicose veins operations and tonsillectomies, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Labour insisted that improved waiting times statistics are a result of the Department of Health’s restrictions that prevent people from getting on the waiting lists, rather than actual improvements in the system. This situation is just an addition to “Cameron’s health lottery”, leaving patients in pain or with restricted mobility under very difficult circumstances, Burnham stated.
According to figures released by Labour, nearly half of the local health bodies that submitted data in response to a Freedom of Information request admitted to having restricted specific services over the past two years. Furthermore, 22 services have been entirely halted in some areas.
Labour’s analysis reveals that the number of admissions for the eight most frequently restricted treatments fell by 51,815 between 2009 and 2011, including a decline of nearly 23,000 in the number of surgery procedures to remove skin lesions for cosmetic reasons. Overall, 21 health bodies limited access to knee surgery and 18 restricted access to hip operations. Tonsillectomies were restricted by 24 and 16 cut access to cataract removals.
With the constant threat of treatment restrictions and increased waiting times, looking to private options could potentially be beneficial as it offers quick access to quality healthcare.
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