NHS plans has weaknesses, say private doctors

By George Psyllides

The proposed National Health Scheme (NHS) had large weaknesses despite the advantages over the current system, the union of private doctors (ENIK) said on Friday.

Chairman Marios Theodotou said the biggest one was the fact that it provided for a single insurer system that could mean poor service and quality, and a constant rise in contributions.

“Our fear and concern is our health ending up like that of Greece where the respective monopoly lets hospitals and doctors go unpaid for months due to lack of cash flow,” Theodotou said.

The current plan is to roll out the NHS with a single insurer (closed system) but having the prospect of opening the system provided it proved viable.

Theodotou said the scheme would improve if private insurance companies were allowed in and people were given the right of choice in conditions of healthy competition and better quality.

“This would ensure the viability and further improvement of private as well as public hospitals,” Theodotou said.
He stressed that private doctors were not promoting a system run exclusively by private firms.

Outlining the basic conditions for the participation of private doctors, Theodotou said the main one was public hospitals having full autonomy before the scheme was implemented.

Patients must have the right also of direct access to a specialist doctor with a small co-payment without referral from their general practitioner.

Participating doctors’ fees must be set so they will not be lower than the agreed pricelist with insurance companies, Theodotou said.

The pricelist had been agreed in 2009 and remained unchanged since, he added.

“If these conditions are met, private doctors, who are the huge majority, will do everything in their power for a proper, viable, quality NHS,” Theodotou said.

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