Health Chat
Managing Services

Hillingdon PCT is under huge financial pressure. Most of the overspend would probably be understood by the public as it was an oversupply of service by Hillingdon Hospital. This was in response to local GP's asking for hospital treatments for their patients. Many of these treatments were not urgent or life threatening but were needed by the patient.

In other words the PCT had an agreement to pay for a set number of operations and other activities by the hospital but the demand put on the hospital by local GPs was greater than the service contracted for. The PCT has no power over the hospital to say stop.

In order to try and reduce this overspend the PCT is looking at asking GPs to stop referring patients to Hillingdon Hospital for non-urgent surgery.

On the one hand we have GPs looking out for the well being of their patients and putting them forward for surgery and other treatments at the hospital but on the other hand we have the PCT not having enough money to pay for all of this work.

Do you have a view? Email it to Dave Williams on info@healthchat.co.uk