Patients will not ‘queue jump’, have access to private rooms or facilities.
Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is offering patients the opportunity to self-fund procedures that have been classified as Procedures of Low Clinical Priority (PLCP) by Commissioners.
Procedures of Low Clinical Priority are treatments that are of value, but only in the right clinical circumstances and are usually subject to strict eligibility criteria for NHS funding.
Under the MyChoice scheme patients will be charged up to £8,500 for revision of knee replacement surgery, £7,000 for hip replacement surgery, and around £2,500 for a hernia repair. A full list of services and prices can be found here.
Despite paying thousands for a procedure that was previously provided by the NHS, patients will not ‘queue jump’, have access to private rooms or facilities.
The trust’s website notes that patients will be treated like ‘regular NHS patients’.
Critics have warned that the move could leave hundreds of thousands of patients suffering simply because they cannot afford the fees.
‘Affordable and convenient’.
Mel Pickup, Chief Executive of Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said; “The Trust does not charge NHS patients for NHS funded procedures.
“Not all healthcare services are funded by the NHS. These services are referred to as Criteria Based Clinical Treatments (previously called Procedures of Low Clinical Priority).”
“The Trust launched the My Choice service in September 2018, a self-pay service to enable access for our patients for these services. Also included on the list are procedures which are available on the NHS with strict criteria set by the commissioners. By offering them via our My Choice service it makes them more accessible for patients who otherwise would not qualify for them under commissioner guidelines.
“My Choice enables patients to pay (self-fund) to have these procedures undertaken at our hospitals based on the national NHS price. As well as enabling affordable, convenient access for patients, this will enable the Trust to generate additional income to support our other NHS services.
“My Choice is by the NHS, for the NHS. My Choice patients are treated as part of the Trust’s normal elective programme, there are no special privileges and they simply occupy a slot on a scheduled list. There are no private rooms and they will join the same waiting list as other NHS patients.”