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Patients fear future NHS costs

07/07/2008

Half of the public believe that in ten years they may have to pay towards some NHS services they need as a patient, according to a new survey.

At the heart of the NHS is the principle that treatment is free at the point of delivery but the British Medical Association (BMA) poll suggests people are concerned this may change.

Nine in ten respondents said they agreed or strongly agreed that the NHS should continue to be funded from UK taxes and remain free at the point of use.

Over half (51 per cent) of respondents oppose commercial companies being encouraged to provide NHS healthcare to patients.

And almost two in three (58 per cent) disagree with commercial companies making a profit (for shareholders) from providing NHS care.

Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of BMA council, commented: "Although the public strongly supports the principles of the NHS and wishes to preserve it as a tax-funded system, they are clearly worried about the future funding of the health service and the government’s direction of travel on health policy.

"It is possible that the English government's increasing use of the commercial sector in providing NHS services is fuelling patients' concerns that the NHS will begin to charge for some care in the future."

He added that it is possible people may fear they will have to pay for some treatment as a result of rising drug and treatment costs, advances in medical technology and increasing demand for services.

"The BMA has long argued for the need for a fully-informed public, professional and political debate about what the NHS can provide, given that there will always be finite financial resources and the need for this debate is long overdue," Dr Meldrum said.

"It would be a travesty if, by default, charges were introduced, destroying the ethos of a universal and equitable health care system that is valued by patients and admired across the world.

"The government should initiate that debate and also take steps to reassure the public that it intends to maintain a tax-funded NHS, not just for the next ten years, but for the foreseeable future."