While the nation's attention was on 'hackgate' and custard pies, the government chose to make a very important announcement and one that would have clinched the headlines had it not been made one of the best days in recent history for 'burying bad news.'
More than £1bn of NHS services are to be opened to competition private companies and charities. The first will happen in April 2010, and included in this initial wave will be children's wheelchair services.
This will mean you can choose where to get your wheelchair, which would mean more choice and a better service...in theory! My concern is that regional purchasers will put contracts out to tender, much as they have with enteral feeds and pumps. This could mean a big variation in options depending on where you live. Of course, the cheapest services will win!
I also worry where this will stop. How far will the NHS become a PHS - privatised health service!
What do you think? Do you welcome these changes and developments? What are your concerns?
Ideas, insights and stories about life in families where a child lives with special needs, such as physical, sensory and learning disabilities, chronic illness, autism and ADHD.
he Scamp, but we CANNOT find anyone within the NHS who can give us the necessary information to get this chair to the children who need it. We are also frustrated when we hear about delays in supply. We can produce a specifically 'built to prescription' chair in about two weeks, sometimes less. Why this then takes months to reach its intended client, is beyond me!
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