Comment : Counting the costs

Anyone reading the health select committee report on health service charges can be in no doubt that the cost of services to consumers, that’s patients, is well and truly at the top of the agenda in Westminster.

In a rush of blood, just before the three-month House of Commons holiday, MPs slammed NHS charges as a ‘mess’ and recommended a clutch of measures. Most seem to be based around the perceived cost of services among the public and the report has more than a whiff of Which? about it.

Prescriptions came in for a bashing with the committee suggesting a pre-payment scheme be introduced, pegging an annual cost of all prescriptions at 12 times that of a single script. This follows a section implying that the introduction of charges can reduce ‘frivolous’ demand.
While the committee reported that it received no complaints about the cost of eye tests, it appears the public do think glasses are too expensive. Surprise, surprise.

In a priceless demonstration of political logic the committee goes on to recommend that all opticians could be compelled to offer cheaper glasses within the NHS voucher value. Opticians, the committee believes, should not only give away their professional services but the spectacles too.

Bringing a note of common sense to the report is the finding that those at risk of eye disease should be targeted and that children should be screened for visual impairment. How this relates to charging the report doesn’t make clear.

Of course the conclusion that made it to the national media was that concerning cars. One of the biggest sections within the conclusions of the report was dedicated to the cost of parking. This recommended that free permits and caps on parking costs be introduced, forcing the reader to ponder how recently anyone on the committee had tried to park within half a mile of an NHS hospital.