NHS rationing 'leads to deaths'

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More than half said they had seen patients suffer due to treatment rationing and two thirds said that they had been told not to prescribe certain drugs by their NHS trust, even though the results could be fatal.

The survey of almost 1,000 GPs and hospital doctors was carried out by Doctor magazine, jointly with sister publication Hospital Doctor.

It shows a deterioration, compared with a similar survey by Doctor nine years ago.

Then, it was found that one in five doctors knew patients who had suffered as a result of treatment rationing and one in 20 knew patients who had died.

More than half of those in the new poll said they had also been asked not to refer patients or to carry out certain procedures. Of those whose prescribing was rationed, 75% said it was on cost grounds.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "Treatment in the NHS is delivered according to patients' clinical needs. Doctors and nurses make these clinical decisions with patients, not managers or politicians.

"The NHS has received an unprecedented funding boost in recent years but finance is not endless and hard decisions will always have to be made about which treatments to provide.

"If Primary Care Trusts overspend by financing every single new drug treatment, that leaves less to spend on other vital healthcare and treatment.

"This small survey of doctors raises some difficult issues but actually serves to underline the importance of the expert independent advice on treatment provision already provided by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.