Petition: Doctors paid to not refer

[IlonaM]

See: https://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/3553?utm_source=email&utm_medium=blast&utm_campaign=28_2_2018_gpreferals_50ktest&bucket=email-blast-28_2_2018_gpreferals_50ktest

'When you walk into your doctors office, you want to know your GP is only thinking about giving you the care you need, not the money they can save or the targets they have to hit. But right now some GPs are being offered cash incentives to cut the number of patients they refer to hospital - including people who might have cancer. [1]

This plan is dangerous - GP groups and medical experts have already raised the alarm. [2] But if we want to stop this scheme before it spreads across England, it will need thousands of us to tell Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to put an end to it.

Jeremy Hunt is probably hoping this all blows over quickly. A huge petition, signed by hundreds of thousands could make sure that doesn?t happen. We can show that NHS patients (like you and me!) won?t stand for targets and money getting in the way of the care we all need when we?re sick.

If 100,000 people sign the petition in the next 48 hours, we?ll send it straight to Jeremy Hunt. So, will you sign the petition now?

Our NHS is struggling because the government hasn?t given it the money it needs. [3] It means NHS bosses are looking for any opportunity to save money. But setting financial incentives and arbritarty targets for GPs simply doesn?t make sense. And when it comes to the care our families get when we?re sick, it?s not right to force doctors to compromise. [4]

Now we?ve got a chance to stop these targets for GPs. But we need to act quickly, before they spread even further. If thousands of us add our names to the petition, we will deliver it straight to Jeremy Hunt by Friday.

So if you want Jeremy Hunt to put patients first, sign the petition now. It only takes 30 seconds:

https://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/3553?utm_source=email&utm_medium=blast&utm_campaign=28_2_2018_gpreferals_50ktest&bucket=email-blast-28_2_2018_gpreferals_50ktest

Thanks for all you do,

Zo?, Cathy, Bex and the 38 Degrees team

NOTES:

[1] Health bosses across 11 areas of the UK have set up schemes which use targets or financial incentive schemes to reduce GP referrals to hospital or specialists. In Rotherham this includes referrals for cancer.

The Independent: NHS GP practices offered cash rewards to not send patients to hospital:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/nhs-gp-savings-sick-patients-operations-avoid-hospital-treatment-reward-cash-a8231591.html

The Guardian: GPs offered cash to refer fewer people to hospital:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/feb/28/gps-offered-cash-to-refer-fewer-people-to-hospital

Telegraph: GP practices given cash back for not sending patients to hospital:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/28/gp-practices-given-cash-back-not-sending-patients-hospital/

Pulse: GP practices offered funding to cut cancer referrals in new scheme:

http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/commissioning/commissioning-topics/referrals/gp-practices-offered-funding-to-cut-cancer-referrals-in-new-scheme/20036238.article

Royal College of General Practictioners: No place for cash incentives to reduce referrals in the NHS, says College:

http://www.rcgp.org.uk/about-us/news/2018/february/no-place-for-cash-incentives-to-reduce-referrals-in-the-nhs-says-college.aspx

[2] Dr Dean Egget is the GP representative for the British Medical Association in Rotherham, the area in which the target to cut GP referrals includes cancer diagnosis and treatment. He said ?The scheme is unsafe and needs to be reviewed urgently?.

The Independent: NHS GP practices offered cash rewards to not send patients to hospital:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/nhs-gp-savings-sick-patients-operations-avoid-hospital-treatment-reward-cash-a8231591.html

[3]Times: NHS funding crisis ?has caused 120,000 extra deaths: (paywall)

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nhs-funding-crisis-has-caused-120-000-extra-deaths-mfxgkkpnz

The Guardian: The Guardian view on the NHS crisis: it?s not just the flu:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/11/guardian-view-nhs-crisis-not-just-the-flu

[4] See note [1] '