Nhs Treatment

EDM number 568 in 1995-96, proposed by Harry Barnes on 05/03/1996.

That this House notes with grave concern that the principle of free health care on demand is being severely undermined by the lengthy periods which people have to wait for NHS treatment, compared to the speed with which private treatment can be arranged and that this places unfair pressures on many people who can ill-afford such fast-track treatment; believes that this is illustrated by the case of 11 year-old Daniel Eden of Wingerworth, whose severe headaches and sinuses kept him away from school for a considerable period, at a crucial stage in his academic development, and whose parents faced an invidious choice in either waiting many months for treatment, while their son suffered and remained away from school, or paying to have almost immediate private treatment; strongly condemns the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health whose response to representations from the honourable Member for North East Derbyshire was that Daniel's parents, rather than the health authorities, should have used avenues to chase up more rapid health treatment; and further condemns the anodyne statement from the Minister that it is for the individual to decide whether or not to seek private health care, as revealing that he is completely out of touch with the real world in which the prospect of months of delay forces many people, who have funded the NHS through their taxes, to pay twice for treatment.

This motion has been signed by a total of 39 MPs.