Senior doctors have warned that patients are given drugs and tests they may not need because GPs and hospitals are paid for the quantity of treatment
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges said patients should be encouraged to ask if their medical procedures were really necessary, in a bid to halt over-diagnosis and needless treatment of swathes of the population. In an unprecedented intervention,the medics – who represent all 21 medical royal colleges in the UK – said too many patients were being forced to endure tests and treatments which could do more harm than good. They said the payments system in the NHS, which means hospitals are paid according to the number of procedures they perform, and GP pay linked to diagnosis and treatment, could act against patients’ interests. The senior doctors said it was time to “wind back the harms of too much medicine” and replace a culture of “more is better” with balanced decision making.
Patients should be encouraged to ask questions such as, ‘Do I really need this test or procedure? What are the risks? Are there simpler safer options? What happens if I do nothing,’ the doctors say.
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