Labour’s plan to reform elective care is nothing new. Successive governments over the last twenty years have tried and tested reform in the NHS and the result is a minefield to navigate for both patients and staff alike. The resulting bureaucracy has left doctors and patients baffled.
The process can be mind-numbing and leaves doctors who just want to help patients despairing
It’s no surprise then that doctors like me are sceptical about the government’s planned shake-up which was unveiled by Health Secretary Wes Streeting last week. While the changes are designed to ‘empower’ patients, it’s likely to leave them even more confused.
The announcements include the expansion of ‘Community Diagnostic Centres’ (CDC), increased use of the NHS app, and control for patients to choose where to get their investigations and treatment from. But will these things provide a magic bullet to the NHS’s woes? It seems unlikely.
Take, for example, the case of Sarah,
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