NHS groups 'paying millions to private firms that block GP referrals'

NHS groups 'paying millions to private firms that block GP referrals' Referral management centres being used by some NHS bodies to scrutinise patient referrals to hospitals, BMJ inquiry finds

NHS organisations are paying millions of pounds to private firms that stop patients being referred to hospital by their GPs, an investigation has found.

Controversial referral management centres are used by some clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to scrutinise patient referrals to hospitals by family doctors. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Referral management schemes: good for whom? The BMJ
• It is vital CCGs spend their budgets to provide better support for local GPs, says RCGP Royal College of General Practitioners
• How hospital chiefs spend millions to STOP you being treated: Four in ten trusts are sifting through GPs letters and sending back any deemed unnecessary The Daily Mail 
• NHS spends millions on private companies that block GP referrals, investigation finds The Independent
• The BMJ reveals private firms run one-third of CCGs' schemes to screen GP referrals MedicalXpress