GPs will be forced to offer patients private care

Patients will have to be offered the option of treatment in the private sector under the government's plans to offer patients a choice of provider, it has emerged.

The news comes as a shock to many primary care trusts, which are responsible for ensuring that patients are offered four or five choices of where they can receive treatment.

The policy framework issued by the Department of Health in August, “Choose and Book”—Patient's Choice of Hospital and Booked Appointment (see http://www.dh.gov.uk/ via search facility) said the range …