Doctors call for radical change to NHS funding

A total of 500 doctors have called for the NHS to be overhauled with a system of healthcare where all patients buy compulsory insurance.

Hospital consultants have formed the Doctors for Reform group and taken out a full page advert in a national newspaper calling for radical changes.

They say an underfunded NHS cannot meet demands and the time has come to "put power into patients' hands" by adopting a new European-style system.

Professor Karol Sikora, an oncologistand one of the founding membersof the group, said: "The NHS as we know it has had its day.

"You can fiddle about with it and patch it up, but with an ageing population and high-tech healthcare, something has to give.

"Everything else we need today we get very easily: air travel, holidays, cars. Why can't we get healthcare that easily?"

In the proposed system everyone in the UK pays for a basic insurance-plan defined by law, with insurance firms competing for custom. The policies must provide a comprehensive package set at the national level.

Poorer people have their insurance premiums subsidised, or paid virtually in full and patients can go to a wide variety of providers for healthcare. The system is used in Switzerland, where employers contribute to the insurance costs, and in France and Germany, where they do not.

In Denmark a voucher system is used, which patients use to get care from wherever they want. Doctors for Reform say such systems give doctors and patients flexibility and genuine choice.

Professor Sikora added: "The form of funding is the key. To change it is a radical step. Politicians are very nervous. But we have to do it if we want a system that is focused on the patient."

The advert, in The Times, announces: "We all work in the NHS. We are committed to its values. But we believe the time has come to consider a new way to deliver healthcare in Britain."

It adds: "The NHS cannot meet public expectations today. The time has come to look at new ways to supply and fund healthcare, while retaining the fundamental principle that it must be universally and equitably available. We invite medical professionals and the public to support us."

The Labour Party hit out at the group by branding it the Conservative Party in disguise. A spokesman said: "I wouldn't want doctors to be misled by this Tory front organisation."

The move comes as Derek Wanless publishes his second report on improving the nation's health.

The first report, issued in 2002, said a massive injection of cash was required over the next 20 years to meet patient demand - results used by Chancellor Gordon Brown to justify a hike in health service funds.