 Northampton General Hospital has had to withdraw its offer |
Plans to offer NHS patients the option of paying for their surgery to avoid waiting lists have been abandoned. Chief executive of Northampton General Hospital, Andrew Riley, has withdrawn a letter sent on 8 January which outlined new plans for minor surgery.
People were offered an option of paying certain amounts for their treatment but the move was completely unacceptable to the Department of Health.
In a letter Mr Riley said the hospital trust had withdrawn the option.
He said: "Northampton General Hospital is an NHS hospital and will remain so."
The letter also stated that hospital managers were "fully committed to the NHS principle of people being able to access NHS care free at the point of use, based on clinical need".
Operations the hospital had offered under the scheme, included a knee operation for �6,260, and cataract removal for �980.
The idea prompted a number of people to call the television programme Look East, to register their shock at the hospital offering the option for patients to pay for surgery.
However, one caller, who wished to remain anonymous, said the reaction was very negative. He believed it was a good idea to use the hospital's facilities in such a way.
"The nurses and surgeons would be sitting around waiting for the new budgets to begin so it was better for them to be employed in treating patients," he said.
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