Where to have your Piles done - NHS Choices

Patricia (Best Year so Far) Hewitt has released details of the scheme to allow "Patient Choice for All"

This appears to be some sort of "super" website that will (it's not available just yet!) allow us the customer to choose when and where we get our piles done. Now for me the choice is either Private or NHS in Aberdeen, my piles will be too inflamed from sitting on them to get to any other Hospital. (Not that I have piles of course).

Patricia then waxes on lyrically about the benefits of "Choice":

We are determined to put patients at the heart of the NHS and making sure patients can access and share information about health services is a crucial part of that. Patients will soon be able to choose, with the click of a button, where they want to have their treatment. Our new choice website will allow the public and clinicians to access a range of information through one super site that will act as a gateway to navigate NHS services.

"Patient choice is about people being in control. Patients needing a hospital appointment should have the right to pick and choose their time, date and place. To make this happen, we need to invest in facilities to help patients take control. Using public libraries and the internet is an ideal way to support patients, families and carers with information."

Actually we used to have this sort of ability many years ago prior to the current Labour Administration, We went to the Doctor and he had the ability to find or more likely know the best treatment, the best person to find out more or the best local Hospital for your need and sorted out the details. Unfortunately Labour then took this ability away when it stopped GP fundholding.

What Patricia has announced here is a dumbed down version of this whereby we "the customer" can now do this all by ourselves thanks to that wonderful internet thing. Just pop down to your local library explain to the old dear there about your piles and she'll help you find your best local hospital to have them sorted out. Just hope she's not too deaf when you try and explain your requirements. Dr Crippen has more on this here.

The Telegraph has more on this here with the last words being from a British Medical Association spokesman who said:

"They are spending an awful lot of money on things like new websites when patients would rather the resources were used to make sure their local hospital was of a good standard, clean and offers the right quality of care."

And remember NHS IT costs are so very reasonable.

GNN - Government News Network: "NHS Choices"