The Department of Health has issued a consultation document setting out proposals to give patients the legal right to private treatment if the NHS cannot provide care quickly enough, the right to die at home and the right to NHS dentistry.
In cases where the NHS was unable to treat patients quickly enough, staff would have to provide alternatives, such as treatment at private hospitals. The government says measures such as these will ensure patients around the country receive a more even standard of care. As a specialist healthcare communications consultancy PRimage is cynical about this Government’s obsession on targets within the NHS. This is why we are supportive of the e Conservative’s pledge to phase out targets – and to instead focus on measuring health outcomes.