Letter

NHS commissioning

Current system has lost touch with reality of patient care

BMJ 2008; 336 doi: 10.1136/bmj.39577.668993.3A (Published 15 May 2008)
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;336:1088.3

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  1. Andrew N Bamji, consultant rheumatologist
  1. 1Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup, Kent DA14 6LT
  1. bamji{at}btinternet.com

    Ham’s dissection of the problems of NHS commissioning is welcome to me as it shows I am not the lone voice crying in the wilderness that I feared I was.1 2

    The current system of commissioning has lost touch with the reality of patient care. Commissioners have become obsessed with saving money and have started playing games to achieve this. Secondary care services are (largely) paid for through the payment by results (PbR) tariff, but increasingly we are seeing attempts …

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