POLITICAL and community leaders yesterday strongly criticised the announcement by the Royal Group of Hospitals in Belfast that it was being forced to spend non emergency operations on some patients to save money.
The Royal estimated that about 1,700 people on waiting lists would face operation delays following the halt to elective surgery on patients in the Eastern Health Board area whose GPs are non fundholders. It said that the measure was necessary because of the effect of the current 3 per cent funding reduction on the EHB's purchasing plans.
Unison, the health service union, condemned the decision and said that it would hit patients from the most deprived areas. The union said that responsibility for underfunding of the Royal lay with the British government. Virtually every hospital in the North head been forced into the same position and a two tier NHS was becoming the norm.
The West Belfast SDLP MP, Dr Joe Hendron, said that the announcement was a major body blow to the concept of universal free health care provision for all.
The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, accused the British government of "creating a second class health service".