Saturday, January 13, 2007

OBSCENE 
Patients can pay for NHS surgery
Northampton General Hospital offers surgery to patients who pay

A financially-struggling hospital is offering patients the chance to pay up to £6,000 to avoid waiting for surgery.

The local hospital trust has run out of cash to perform the operations at Northampton General Hospital.

Instead, patients who can provide the money can avoid waiting four months for treatments such as hip replacements, which cost around £6,000.

The move has been criticised by the Department of Health, which described it as "completely unacceptable".