The Liberty Papers

In Great Britain, doctors at the National Health Service are being ordered to delay surgeries for as long as five months to save money:

LONDON, Jan. 2 (UPI) — Hospitals in Britain have been told to hold off operating on some patients until they’ve been on a waiting list for 20 weeks, documents show.

The instructions for delaying treatment as long as possible were included in letters sent to hospital managers, who also were told how many operations could be postponed until after the new fiscal year, which starts in April, the Telegraph said Tuesday. The instructions indicate the seriousness of the health services financial crisis, observers said.

Patients were having their treatment artificially delayed because the trusts that provide local medical care for National Health Services had to ensure they would break even, political leaders said. The trusts are in the throes of a $2.6 billion deficit.

In one letter, a health manager for East of England trust, outlined a plan to ensure hospital operations were “restricted to the minimum required to meet required access targets” regarding elective activities.

It’s called rationing, and it’s inevitable in any single-payer health care system. Even if Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and the rest of those who advocate such a system will never admit it.