Mature Times - Healthcare Rationing

Drugs 'top-up" ban finally lifted

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:18:36 +0000

Thousands of patients and their relatives who have been fighting for the right to pay privately for drugs that are not available on the NHS, but have been proved to be beneficial - especially in terminal illness - will be relieved to know that the ban on "top up" care has finally been lifted. The decision was taken after a four-month review triggered by patient outcry and inconsistencies within individual NHS Trusts.

Cinderella carers live in fear, survey shows

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:22:50 +0100

Most carers of people with lung conditions have no practical help at all, even though they are dealing with frightening attacks of breathlessness that require frequent hospitalisation, according to a new survey by the British Lung Foundation.

Disabled could face jail with changes to cannabis ruling

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:28:33 +0100

Things could get even worse for the thousands of disabled people who use cannabis for chronic pain relief if Home Secretary Jacqui Smith reclassifies the drug from class C to class B "in the interests of public health". The reclassification would mean disabled people facing a maximum prison sentence for five years.

New campaign for greater choice for NHS cataract patients

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:58:45 +0100

The fight to let cataract patients pay to upgrade their treatment may be a step closer to victory thanks to Dr David Allen, consultant at the Sunderland Eye Infirmary, who has argued for years that cataract patients should be allowed to contribute towards their treatment, so that they can have a better standard of lens fitted than is available on the NHS.

Call for debate as Gordon Brown pledges to make care fairer

Mon, 12 May 2008 11:04:36 +0100

"Right care Right deal", the new national campaign launched to build public awareness and support for the need for brave and innovative solutions for the social care system, have today responded to Prime Minister Gordon Brown's pledge to build a "fairer Britain" as he launches a consultation on how to fund future social care for an ageing population.

Why SHOULDN'T patients buy their own treatments?

Fri, 09 May 2008 17:10:32 +0100

Several high profile cases in recent months have shown that NHS Trusts are taking an intransigent line when patients want to short circuit the NHS system and pay for drugs or treatments not approved by NICE. Now the debate has been taken up in one of Britain's leading medical journals.

Should patients control the NHS purse strings?

Wed, 07 May 2008 09:24:10 +0100

Direct social care payments for disabled adults, the elderly and carers of disabled children were introduced in the UK in 1996. But now an expert in healthcare policy at the US Department of Health and Human Services believes that this scheme should be extended to those with long term, chronic conditions.

Ageism in the NHS: I'm too young to get a new knee

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:00:23 +0000

I'm 61 and crippled with arthritis - but I've been told I am too young to receive a new knee. I appreciate that new knees have a limited life but is not my quality of life more important than my age?

Victory in sight on drug cures

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:07:00 +0000

Mature Times readers will know that we have been campaigning hard against NICE’s decisions not to recommend sight saving drugs for Age Related Macular Degeneration and the pain relief drug Sativex for MS sufferers. Victory on both is on the horizon. By Mature Times Editor Tony Watts.

NHS told to "sit on" £1.8 billion surplus

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 13:33:59 +0000

While thousands of patients went without services and life-saving drugs this year, the clampdown on spending within the NHS created a massive surplus of £1.8bn (2% of the total budget), yet now the government has told the NHS to 'sit on' the money - just weeks after health secretary Alan Johnson pledged it would be spent on improving services.

"Crawling on the floor because NHS won't prescribe drugs"

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:31:13 +0000

Following our recent article about Sativex treatment for MS sufferers, one MT reader tells of her daughter's experiences.

Cardiac rehabilitation is postcode lottery

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:23:46 +0000

Heart patients, doctors, nurses and supporters have staged a protest at the Houses of Parliament, demanding improved access to cardiac rehabilitation - an inexpensive treatment proven to save lives. It was the first political protest staged by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in almost 50 years.

Cannabis-based spray scientifically proven to help Multiple Sclerosis sufferers

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:16:26 +0000

In July 2007 the Mature Times highlighted the plight of Elizabeth Ridge, who, despite being crippled by Multiple Sclerosis, was refused £4 a day funding for the cannabis-based Sativex by her North Somerset PCT on the grounds that the costs did not justify the treatment. Now new research has once again shown what other countries already know and endorse. It works.

Pregnant women funded for food - but not the elderly

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:47:46 +0100

Recently the Government made public a proposal to award an allowance of £200 to pregnant women to allow them to eat healthy foods to benefit their unborn child - but what about the dietary needs of the elderly, another vulnerable section of society?

Tony Rhodes of the National Carers Forum calls for action.

"Enlightened" decision provides hope for arthritis sufferers

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 15:59:36 +0100

Thousands of people suffering from severe rheumatoid arthritis may now have their hopes of returning to a full social and working life realised, following the decision by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's to approve the so-called "smart drug" MabThera for prescription.