16/01/2017 Inside Out West Midlands


16/01/2017

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Welcome to a new series of Inside Out.

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We've got a special programme tonight -

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a check up on the health of our health service...

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And I'm here in Cannock Chase - a place with a little known

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But first, our cameras catch patients illegally

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Mike, do you want to, why are you, why are you doing that, Mike?

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Is rationing of services becoming a reality as hospitals struggle

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Some people will get health care for free and others won't.

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And we look back on 70 years of the NHS and the nurses who faced

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He went, "You are black, I don't want a black nurse touching me."

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I'm Ayo Akinwolere with more surprising stories from right

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Our hospitals are facing one of their busiest winters.

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And with wards full to the brim, money ever tighter and budgets under

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enormous strain, the last thing the NHS needs is to be

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But that's effectively what's been happening -

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patients have been SELLING drugs prescribed by their doctors.

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Jonathan Gibson has been investigating.

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Pressure on the NHS is increasing. GPs are at breaking point.

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And funding the health service doesn't come cheap.

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Take prescriptions - in 2015 they cost the NHS in England

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And many of those are repeat prescriptions for patients

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with long-term conditions like Ram Raman from Walsall.

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I've just called you in for your medicines review.

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Just looking at a couple of items you've had on your repeat list.

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I don't use them, you can take them off.

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By stopping prescriptions that are no longer needed responsible

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patients like Ram are saving the NHS in Walsall money.

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Actually you have saved the NHS around ?100 over the year.

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The NHS is under great pressure but if you don't

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need an item it really is your ownership to protect the NHS

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and to ensure that actually if I don't need it,

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But a system which relies on honesty is also open to abuse and that's

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what I'm worried is happening in other parts of the Midlands.

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We're all familiar with auction websites like ebay -

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it seems you can virtually buy and sell anything these days and I'm

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worried that's exactly what some people are doing.

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Oh, venlafaxine is a prescription only drug for treating depression.

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Well, this guy who's selling venlafaxine says

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She doesn't need it so they've decided to sell it on.

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Are people allowed to do that? Absolutely not.

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But it's not just drugs to treat depression or your teeth.

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I've just spotted another called caverject.

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It's a drug for treating erectile dysfunction.

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Oh, yeah. It's definitely prescription only.

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So why has this guy got eight for sale on ebay? Really?

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I've ordered a couple through the post to find out

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as well as some other prescription only medicines being

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It comes in the form of this injection kit so you need

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I asked him for proof that these products were genuine and he's

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It looks like his doctor is prescribing these to him

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on the NHS and he's just selling them on.

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The guy selling his NHS prescriptions to treat impotence

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lives in Nottinghamshire and its Friday so I've come up

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with the perfect reason for calling around.

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And it's worked, so, secret camera running,

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I'm hardly through the door and he's straight down to business.

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That won't be a problem - he's got 24 in stock.

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the prescriptions so you can sell them on?

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Yeah, I take it you don't pay for your prescriptions then?

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So the NHS looks after him and he looks after himself.

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So have you got many regular customers?

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Yeah, well three or four, haven't we?

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Guess it's a bit of an extra income isn't it?

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I get four a month because they don't allow

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you to have any more than four a month.

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That's 48 boxes a year costing the NHS about ?500.

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Here we go, four packets each containing an injection,

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He gets the money and you and I pick up the bill!

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But ?500 is small change compared to the cost

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of another NHS prescription I'm being offered for sale.

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I'm on my way to meet a man whose prescription drug costs the NHS

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It's a cold Thursday night and he's asked to meet me

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in a service station car park on the M6 near Coventry.

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He's here all right but he's on the other side of the motorway.

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My cameraman's watching my back as I head across

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Shall we have a quick chat in the car?

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I thought he'd go straight for the cash but he's

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Who's going to be using this and is he aware or is she aware

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of how this medicine works and what it actually does?

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But it doesn't take him long to get down to business.

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is used to treat arthritis and can only be prescribed by

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He gets prescribed a box every four weeks.

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I'm accumulating a box every three months.

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Being honest with you, I've only put it up on ebay because the person

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that was normally collecting from London, three,

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He's also breaking ebay's rules by listing it.

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I was thinking if someone's going to get me done for this cos

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I shouldn't really post an ad like this

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And if I want more,that's no problem.

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After all, the NHS gives him almost ?10,000 worth

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OK, well, target number two, drug number two and -

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Really shocking?really, really, shocking.

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Community pharmacist Jyoti says what they're doing

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These are prescription only medicines that have been

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prescribed for an individual for their individual condition.

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But then to sell them on for a financial gain

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for themselves is defrauding the NHS its defrauding everybody

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and it's actually an illegal thing to do.

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It could also lead to a prison sentence.

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These are just a few of the prescriptions

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Everything from prescription toothpaste to anti-depressants

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and those high-end expensive injectable drugs prescribed in good

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faith by the NHS to patients who are illegally selling them on.

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Patients like the man selling his NHS impotence injections.

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Instead I got an email from his wife.

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Yes, she said, we know what we are doing is wrong but we're

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not making a lot of money out of it - barely enough, she says,

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Do you ever get the feeling someone's missing the point?

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I've told him I want to buy more of his drugs but this time I'm not

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Mike, I'm not really called Steve, I'm a reporter for the BBC and I'm

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trying to find out why you're selling NHS prescriptions

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Mike, do you want to, why are you, why are you doing that, Mike?

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But moments later, he gives me a call.

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I just want to apologise because I know what I've done was wrong.

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So you won't be selling NHS prescriptions anymore?

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Well, you heard what he said, whether or not that's

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true, I don't know - there's no way of telling.

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We may have closed the door on one fraudster's activities but it's

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clear he's not the only patient willing to sell his

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Ebay told us its sellers must comply with the law and its'

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sellers are prohibited from listing prescription drugs.

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It says it works with the medicines and health care products regulatory

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agency to remove any such items from sale as soon as

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But first we're looking at pressure to ration some treatments

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and asking: Is the NHS still a National Service?

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Does where you live now matter more than ever when it comes

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Chris Jackson has been trying to find out.

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The NHS is facing the most significant financial challenge in

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its history. There are fears the service we have grown up with his

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National Service. Absolutely, there National Service. Absolutely, there

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is a post code lottery. Yellow at its criminal, absolutely criminal.

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This is going to get worse. Is the NHS in danger of ceasing to be a

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National Service, where everyone is entitled to the same care? It is

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treating all patients but is it becoming a post code lottery Web

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access can depend on where you live. We're going to put that to the test.

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On a bad day, it ruins your life. Muscle pain because my bones are

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screaming at me at times. Ben Franklin has hepatitis C, a virus

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which can cause liver damage. I'm about to lose my job. I could

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possibly lose the flat. There are new drugs which could potentially

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cure then's hepatitis but they are expensive and rationed. Then has

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been denied them. All I got was been denied them. All I got was

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white, basically because my liver wasn't bad enough. And that made me

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want to go out and just get want to go out and just get

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absolutely wasted and ruin my lover, just so they would treat me. I

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wouldn't do that but I wouldn't be surprised if anyone else wouldn't.

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is claimed that there are no clues is claimed that there are no clues

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in parts of the North and long waits in places like London. Two people

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with exactly the same stage of liver damage could present in different

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parts of the country and in one they can walk in and get hepatitis C

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and in another part of the country, and in another part of the country,

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they may go there and be told, I'm sorry, you're going to have to wait.

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This is inherently unfair. NHS England told us it was regularly

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reallocating unused hepatitis C treatment to places with waiting

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lists. The number of patients treated with increased by 25% next

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year. It is the fact it is down to money that upsets me the most. Just

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money. So, Ben is taking the risk of treating himself with cheaper copies

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of the drugs. How much did you spend on the box? ?1300. I am tired of

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being tired, basically. Ben is hoping the generic drugs will cure

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him within a matter of weeks and he is not alone. The hepatitis C trust

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estimates around 1000 people in Britain may have bought the drugs

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abroad. If you go outside, there are halos around the light, light and

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shadows, it is often hard to see things, they are distorted. Gloria

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MacShane has cataracts in both eyes. I cannot take stayers because any

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kind of confidence... Cataracts are supposed to be treated within 4.5

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months of referral. Gloria, who months of referral. Gloria, who

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lives in the north-east, says she has been waiting seven. It is too

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long because there is a potential accidents. There is such a change in

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a person's moved. If Gloria had lived in Luton, await greater have

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lottery? Absolutely, there is a post lottery? Absolutely, there is a post

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code lottery. It is not about clinical need, it is about some

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places in England having pressures and de-prioritising cataracts

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surgery. That does not field too National to me. It makes me angry

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because it is almost like survival of the fittest. Clinical

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Commissioning Groups or CCGs control health budgets. It is claimed

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Hadley treatments like cataract Hadley treatments like cataract

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surgery by slimming down referrals. Others require patients to lose

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weight before getting operations like hip replacements. Is bringing

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an operation in these circumstances can save money in the short term.

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Whilst these CCGs say it can be clinically justified, the Royal

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College of Surgeons says it cannot. There is very good evidence that

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people are now not getting elective operations which they desperately

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sometimes require, simply because of financial restriction. It is up to

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the clinicians to decide who should have what treatments and therefore a

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bureaucratic system which produces a blanket ban, we think, is morally

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wrong. It is faintly systems system is forgetting appointments with

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specialists are another form of rationing. Why are they treating

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their patients with certain content? Last month, MPs complained about a

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private company they paid ?10 for every GP referral they stopped. This

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is rationing by the back door and has the potential to compromise

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patient safety. The same private company overseas referrals in North

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Tyneside. We have spoken to doctors who say the system is putting

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patients at risk. The GPs who heard speaking out how to does that cancer

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diagnoses are being held up. I can't get a patient referred to a

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dermatologist, the referral management service said it was a

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skin lesion and rejected. That was a disaster. It was a nasty, invasive

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cancer. The system is dangerous. They are putting up barriers. They

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are using delaying tactics. It is getting between the Doctor and the

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specialist. In a statement, North Tyneside CCGs said there was no

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evidence the system caused additional risk or delay. Cancer

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referrals to not go directly through the system and go directly to

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hospital. The number of vessels not backed to GPs in England had risen

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30% in the last two years. You can 30% in the last two years. You can

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see the details of our research online. Regional differences.

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Circling-mac always been part of the NHS, as has shortages, but today the

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is under unprecedented pressure. If is under unprecedented pressure. If

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it does not get more funding, waiting times will increase the

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quality of patient care will suffer. We will see different decision taken

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in different parts of the country and different services being

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available. Is the NHS still a National Service? One of our most

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prominent medics is clear. No, it is not a National Service. It is a

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local health service. It leads to inequality in health care, that the

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problem. Some people will get health care for free and others won't. In a

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statement, the Department of Health told us...

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Standards of care are improving. We asked the Health Secretary and NHS

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England for an interview. Both declined. People actually paying for

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NHS services, clinical commissioners, did agree to speak.

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It is a National Service, with local based on need. Demographically,

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populations vary significantly from town to removal from county to

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county, it's really important that we commission and respond to the

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needs of that population from a local basis. It is about making sure

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the path is correct. We don't want to squander any money. We have

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limited resources so it is really important we spend most effectively

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and get the best value for our population. Those forced to take

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their own action, rationing appears all too real.

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All of these films are available on iPlayer.

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Keep up to date on Twitter - @bbciowm.

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And it's [email protected] if you'd like to get in touch,

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Now, the NHS has been with us for 70 years.

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It was the brainchild of Nye Bevan, seen here with Jennie Lee

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She went on to become a much-loved MP for Cannock.

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And here is the very desk Nye Bevan worked at.

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In fact, you could say THIS is actually where the NHS was born.

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Trish Adudu's looks now at the part it plays in all our lives.

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The National Health Service has been around for nearly seven decades.

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It's seen us through fourteen Prime Ministers.

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And most recently, one monumental vote.

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The British people are spoken, the answer is, we are out.

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When it comes to the nation's politics and finances,

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the power of those three little letters has been unrivalled.

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But despite all the political analysis, the constant

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scrutiny and daily debate, it seems there's a massive gap

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There's very little done now about what the NHS

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means to us culturally, the most meaningful

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experiences in our lives, they happen in the NHS.

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We're born in the NHS, we have serious, life-threatening

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illnesses in the NHS, the NHS takes care of us day-to-day

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And that's what Professor Bivins and her team of historians want to mend.

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They've started a massive research project, incredibly,

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the first of its kind, to find out what impact the NHS has

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When you talk about culture and the NHS, what do you mean?

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The NHS has a culture of its own practices had an impact on broader

:21:59.:22:03.

culture. You might think of the Carry On films, they do not mention

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the NHS but they are all done with that public- private split in mind.

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In other words, the culture of having an NHS has gone into the

:22:14.:22:14.

wider culture. There's a post office museum,

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there are several museums for the railways but there's no NHS

:22:17.:22:18.

museum, so one of the things we're trying to do is to curate at least

:22:19.:22:21.

a virtual museum of the NHS. Its sounds obvious when Roberta

:22:22.:22:25.

explains it but when you think of the NHS, culture is hardly

:22:26.:22:27.

the first thing that comes to mind. But we are very proud of it,

:22:28.:22:30.

director Danny Boyle paid homage to the NHS in the opening ceremony

:22:31.:22:33.

of the London Olympics as a shining It is central to people's lathes, in

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terms of health care. On a national basis, it is something that connects

:22:53.:22:57.

Britain. It is such a massive employer and what is a huge part of

:22:58.:23:04.

people's lives. It is now the fifth largest in the world.

:23:05.:23:06.

Hearing people's first-hand experiences of the NHS is vital

:23:07.:23:09.

to Jack and Roberta's research into its cultural history.

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And that history touches not just this country but much of the world.

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I'm about to meet a nurse, originally from Jamaica,

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who made it her personal mission to work for the NHS.

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I heard Celia is a bit of a special lady who has had an amazing

:23:30.:23:33.

Hello, Celia! Tell us about the reception he got when you arrived

:23:34.:23:49.

here? I remember a gentleman in mental health, because that was my

:23:50.:23:55.

first training. When I introduced myself, he went, they are black, I

:23:56.:23:57.

don't want a black person touching don't want a black person touching

:23:58.:24:02.

me. I looked at my hands and said, who knows? When I am finished with

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you, you might also have some blackness on you. After I said it, I

:24:06.:24:12.

thought wow, that's the wrong thing to have said. But I did it. And then

:24:13.:24:17.

understand me? And he said, I do but understand me? And he said, I do but

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I don't want you to care for me. I said, that's fine. The ward sister

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came down and I remember her saying, they only have black nurses here, so

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you will even let them care for you or you won't get well. And he said,

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all right, I will have her. Has the NHS helped overcome those racial

:24:40.:24:47.

prejudices? It didn't do it. Now, the NHS is into equality and

:24:48.:24:53.

diversity and challenges out there. But you will find that earlier, many

:24:54.:24:57.

of us took steps to make sure we started that challenge.

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So, for Celia and many others like her, working for the NHS wasn't

:24:59.:25:02.

just a job caring for the sick but a platform to bridge social gaps

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Sickness is common to all nations but fortunately, so the nursing

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instinct. In the 60s, the NHS

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was on a recruitment drive mostly Trips to hospitals, dentists and GPs

:25:16.:25:19.

often brought white people's first experiences with black

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and Asian people. And from initial division

:25:25.:25:28.

came the first signs In the 1970s, when the National

:25:29.:25:45.

Front is growing and you have this sort of vividly expressed street

:25:46.:25:51.

racism, you have other incidents in NHS hospitals, there is an incident

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in Middlesex where the Ministry of health was trying to deport foreign

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nurses and the entire hospital staff occupied the administration block,

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arranging a sit in. With the racial and social landscape

:26:07.:26:08.

changing, Birmingham in particular was fast becoming

:26:09.:26:10.

an ethnically diverse hub. In many ways, burning is more

:26:11.:26:22.

representative of what it was like across the UK. Birmingham is one of

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the first cities to have a liaison officer from the migrant community

:26:27.:26:30.

to help bring new migrants to Birmingham. It is part of the NHS

:26:31.:26:36.

story. My next stop is Malcolm Tomlinson,

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a man with four decades of experience working for the NHS

:26:38.:26:40.

in Birmingham with the West And he still loves it,

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as I'm about to find out. I was expecting him to ask me

:26:44.:26:51.

to meet him at home with a cuppa Today, you have come to look at the

:26:52.:27:16.

Ambulance Service society's base. We are all ex-ambulance staff and we

:27:17.:27:20.

restore and maintain these vehicles as a hobby.

:27:21.:27:24.

With more than 30 ambulances on site, could this form the core

:27:25.:27:27.

The shame is that no one can see them locked away in garages. We

:27:28.:27:36.

been trying for a number of years to been trying for a number of years to

:27:37.:27:41.

get funding, to open a proper heritage centre. The only are

:27:42.:27:50.

treated like a load of old men from last of the summer Wine and people

:27:51.:27:55.

don't want to know. Would you like to see a museum in the West

:27:56.:28:00.

Midlands? I certainly won't. Can I have a go with the ambulance? If you

:28:01.:28:02.

can move it, you can have a go. After a quick lesson in one

:28:03.:28:09.

of the ambulances Malcolm And if you'd like to get

:28:10.:28:12.

involved with the history project we mentioned,

:28:13.:28:21.

just go to peopleshistorynhs.org. I'll be back next week,

:28:22.:28:23.

maybe from somewhere close to you. Next week - legendary radio

:28:24.:28:33.

broadcaster Ed Doolan opens up about his battles with dementia

:28:34.:28:40.

and his determination to stay That's here on Inside Out

:28:41.:28:42.

next Monday evening. Hello, I'm Louisa Preston

:28:43.:29:08.

with your 90 second update. 30 British tourists shot

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dead in Tunisia in 2015. Today, an inquest was told

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that security forces Donald Trump provokes

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a mixed reaction. Downing Street welcomes the promise

:29:17.:29:21.

of a "quick and fair" trade deal. But foreign ministers

:29:22.:29:24.

are concerned by his comments

:29:25.:29:27.

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