Warner: ‘Crazy NHS rules’ protect services

Health minister Lord Warner has said ‘crazy NHS rules’ are ‘useful’, following reports that a hospital had been fined for treating patients too quickly.

Ipswich Hospital, which is already 16 million pounds in debt, has lost 2.5 million pounds worth of funding by treating patients within its four-month waiting period. The punitive measure was enforced after the hospital accidentally broke an agreement for giving patients similar waiting times.

The Liberal Democrats described the situation as “a complete nonsense” according to the Yorkshire Post Today. However Lord Warner defended the rules in comments to Channel 4.

He said: “Crazy NHS rules are to protect all the services in a particular area.”

He pointed out: “The hospital have admitted that they have actually exceeded the contract with their primary care trust.”

He added that treating individuals within a four month period was “damaging the prospects of other services outside hospital,” adding that “people have to stick to contracts, the hospital have actually acknowledged that they should stick to the contract and that they did exceed it”.

Yesterday, a Department of Health spokesperson said that all areas have been given increased funding, which have brought waiting times down, with all patients in the NHS seen according to medical need.

They added that no patient requiring emergency treatment has been affected by the legislation on minimum waiting times.

© Adfero Ltd