§ Mr. SwayneTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance is given to clinicians for the purposes of determining which patients receive expedited out-patient opinions within the NHS. [18241]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 5 December 2001]: The decision on how quickly a patient should be referred to out-patients is a clinical matter and it is for general practitioners to decide this on a case by case basis. To assist GPs in referring, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is developing referral guidance for certain conditions including benign prostate disease, osteoarthritis of the hip, and lower back pain. The Department has issued guidance to the national health service that priority treatment should be given to war pensioners, both as in-patients and as out-patients, for 983W examination or treatment relating to the condition for which the patient receives a pension, unless in emergencies or if another case demands clinical priority.
The process of booking appointments should be patient focused. The national booked admissions programme, launched in 1998, is putting in place systems that allow patients to pre-book appointments for a time that is convenient for them, and by the end of 2005 we are committed to all out-patient and in-patient elective admissions being pre-booked.