When a solution is a problem
AFTER the reaction over the past week, Health & Social Care’s climbdown over charging for cancer patients seeking treatment at Accident & Emergency was as entirely predictable as it was mishandled. The biggest surprise is that the committee ‘got away with it’ for as long as it did.
One can understand its rationale of evening up treatments and charges for all life-limiting illnesses. But it’s notable now that the committee accepts that it should not have attempted to ‘level down’ to introduce equity into the charging policy.
The committee is going to look at other ways to find the money to make emergency department funding fairer for all in the community. President Al Brouard has said that in doing so, it has ‘listened to the community’.
Sadly, only now is it going to ‘take some time to work through the issues’. Maybe it should have done more of that up front.
It’s a shame that the committee, we understand, didn't consult patient groups nor take soundings from those who can explain just how these decisions can fall apart when they hit the public consciousness. After all, the States employs plenty of them.
Politicians are naturally risk averse, and certainly don’t like the negative headlines which come from withdrawing services or introducing charging. So, particularly in these sensitive situations, it’s important to consider the potential backlash in advance.