Financial challenges are forcing NHS hospitals throughout the country to put off routine procedures for patients, and the British Medical Association (BMA) has called the situation nonsensical.
The situation could grow worse as Primary Care Trusts postpone surgeries, according to BMA chairman James Johnson.
It's an absolutely nonsensical situation, he claimed. Doctors and nurses are available to treat patients, but they can't get on with it because PCTs are under pressure to balance the books.
Rather than improving the system’s efficiency, the new system where health care is bought and sold, is actually making things worse, says Mr. Johnson.
Although PCTs may benefit from a delay in treatment, those delays are obviously not in the best interests of the patients.
The system is a curious game with no financial benefit because the hospital must pay staff whether a procedure goes forward or not. When the PCT does not pay the hospital, the debt is simply moved from one part of the NHS to another.
After years of cooperation between doctors, nurses and managers to improve the quality of care for patients, the government’s actions have undermined the system, according to Dr. Mark Porter, deputy chairman of the BMA Consultants Committee, angering patients and consultants.