Private Patients in Hospitals
SIR,—Your correspondent, E. F. Davidson, does well to call attention to the injustice meted out by the National Health Service to private patients. I cannot see why a private patient should be penalised because he or she is willing to pay something extra for privacy. Surely, in justice, everyone should be entitled to the basic benefits of N.H. Insurance, irres- pective of whether he chooses to pay for extra comforts.
A friend of mine, about to undergo an operation, told me that she would have to pay twenty guineas a week for a private ward, as well as for surgeon, anaesthetist, dressings, etc. She added that her doctor told her than 25 per cent. of the fees paid by private patients went, by order of the Ministry of Health, towards the upkeep of the public wards. Many of us would be glad to know if this is correct, and, if it is, why private patients should he made to pay not only for their private comforts, but for what should be basic benefits, and in addition be asked to subsidise patients in public wards.--I am, Sir, yours faithfully, ENQUIRER.
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