HC Deb 13 December 1983 vol 50 cc818-9
2. Mr. Tim Smith

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate the level and cost of patient abuse of the National Health Service.

The Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security (Mr. John Patten)

No, Sir. Responsible use of the Health Service helps us all by enabling it to work more effectively. I am sure that most people understand that, but there is at the moment no objective definition of abuse on which an estimate could be based.

Mr. Smith

Is my hon. Friend aware that there is a growing problem with patients not turning up for appointments at hospitals? Does he agree that that is a serious problem, which results in the waste of consultants' time and valuable Health Service resources? Has he any plans to deal with it?

Mr. Patten

I appreciate my hon. Friend's point. It should be pointed out there are some 37 million outpatient appointments in hospitals in any one year and it cannot be doubted that people not turning up for appointments cause inconvenience and waste money. At the moment, the problem is best dealt with by local initiatives in hospitals where the consultants and those who make the appointments can draw the attention of patients to the importance of keeping their appointments.

Mr. Meadowcroft

Does the Minister accept that one technical abuse of the NHS in urban areas is the use of casualty departments in general hospitals by homeless persons as a form of general practitioner service? Will the hon. Gentleman examine the Leeds experiment of providing a general practitioner service for homeless persons in the city and apply the lessons learnt elsewhere?

Mr. Patten

I shall consider the lessons that we can draw from Leeds. Many people, particularly in inner city areas, tend to use accident and emergency facilities rather than those of the general practitioner. That is one of the reasons why my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State recently announced an initiative to provide better standards of care in inner city areas where they are much needed, which has been broadly welcomed in the House.

Mrs. Jill Knight

Is my hon. Friend aware that some foreigners who come into Britain and use the NHS try hard to pay for the service that they receive but are prevented from doing so by the hospital administrators?

Mr. Patten

My hon. and learned Friend the Minister for Health is actively reviewing the situation.

Mr. Dobson

Will the Minister accept that a more important form of abuse of the NHS is the abuse of its facilities by private hospitals? Was not the Prime Minister involved in the worst form of abuse by giving the impression, when she had her eye operation, that only the private sector could provide the necessary treatment, and not disclosing that the private hospital that she attended had to borrow vital equipment from the King Edward VII NHS hospital nearby?

Mr. Patten

That is a thoroughly silly question. The Government are bent on providing a better standard of health care for all. If that can be achieved in co-operation with the private sector, so much to the good.