Shock! Some NHS hospitals do allow patients to buy expensive drugs that the NHS is too mean to give them

The government’s ban on NHS patients paying for medicines the health service does not fund is in disarray. Figures obtained under freedom of information legislation show that NHS hospitals were allowing dozens of patients to top up with private drugs before the government warned them it was not allowed under NHS rules in July last year. The evidence that top-up payments have previously been allowed, apparently without difficulties, undermines the government’s claim they are contrary to the fundamental principles of the NHS.

At one trust, the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, 20 patients were allowed to co-pay for cancer drugs that the health service refused to fund before the government ban was introduced.

The figures also provide further evidence that many trusts are allowing patients to top up with additional drugs without removing the remainder of their NHS care. Freedom of information data shows that Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has allowed patients to pay for drugs their consultant has recommended without losing the rest of their NHS treatment. John Baron, MP for Billericay, who obtained the figures, said: “This undermines the case of those who argue co-payments cannot exist within the NHS.”

Other trusts that have allowed co-payments include the University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, ABM University NHS Trust in Bridgend, south Wales, and Weston Area Health NHS Trust in Somerset.

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Another disastrous foreign doctor in Australia

There have been some appalling cases of doctors trained in India and in Muslim countries. There should be more testing of them before they are hired

Health Minister Stephen Robertson will receive a report tomorrow into an Egyptian- trained surgeon who allegedly bungled operations he performed without supervision. Abdalla Khalifallah, who worked at Mackay Base Hospital, had his contract terminated in August 2006 after he was deregistered by the Medical Board of Queensland.

The report, by the Health Quality and Complaints Commission, is based on almost two years of investigation. The matter was raised in Federal Parliament in August 2006 by former Nationals MP De-Anne Kelly, who outlined the cases of four people she said were injured during unsuccessful operations at Mackay Base Hospital.

Mrs Kelly told Parliament Dr Khalifallah had undertaken three major operations that he was unqualified for without supervision, resulting in complications. One case. to remove a bowel tumour, resulted in fecal matter entering the intestinal cavity, she said.

"This operation was carried out in direct contravention of the decision of the (hospital's) credentials committee," she said. "In July 2005, the hospital's credentials committee determined that Dr Khalifallah must be supervised during major surgery."

Dr Khalifallah became a staff specialist at the hospital in 2004. A spokeswoman for Mr Roberston said the Minister had called for a report into the matter in 2006. "We cannot comment any further until the Minister sees what the report says," she said.

The above article by Suellen Hinde appeared in the Brisbane "Sunday Mail" on 3 August, 2008. The spelling of the name of the fool seems to vary. In this report, it was Abdalla Khalafalla