A BOLTON GP claims there has been a "criminal waste" of National Health Service money to cover up the number of people waiting for NHS physiotherapy treatment in the town.

Dr Bernard Newgrosh of Great Lever Health Centre says dozens of patients who have been waiting months for treatment have been referred to private physios, paid for by the NHS. But he claims many have been sent away without treatment back into GP care and removed from the waiting list. And Bolton Community Healthcare NHS Trust admits that that is happening.

Dr Newgrosh says Bolton and Wigan Health Authority supplied funding to Bolton Community Healthcare Trust to pay for the services of private physios as part of an initiative to cut long waiting lists.

In January, the BEN reported that more than 1,000 patients were waiting for treatment and there were protests that the system favoured patients of fundholding practitioners.

Patients of non-fundholders - those who do not have control of their own finances - were told to wait until April for treatment.

But Dr Newgrosh claims some patients requiring physiotherapy were referred to private physios and discharged after one visit, sometimes with the wrong advice.

He says one patient, who cannot be named, needed treatment for his back and was advised on a knee problem which had already been addressed.

He has written to Patrick Wallace, Chief Executive of the Bolton Community Healthcare NHS Trust and he has taken up the issue with Health Secretary, Frank Dobson.

Mr Wallace could not comment to the BEN about the issue but in a written reply to Dr Newgrosh, the Trust confirms that patients were not receiving treatment.

The letter states: "As a means of addressing this lengthy 'chronic' waiting list, the Health Authority has sadly only been willing to purchase a single assessment and advice physiotherapy appointment and as you rightly highlight, this means that no actual treatment is given to the patient."

The Trust said it was not happy with the system but could only work to direction from the Health Authority.

Dr Newgrosh told the Evening News: "As a waiting list initiative this was brilliant, but it is a slap in the face for those needing help. It is a criminal waste of NHS resources, paying private physiotherapists not to treat patients who need therapy.

"This was supposed to deal with people on a chronic waiting list but some people who were only on for a couple of weeks have been caught up in it and others who have been waiting months have been told physiotherapy is now not appropriate because they have been waiting so long.

"Apparently, the service is now back to normal. The waiting lists have come down and look wonderful, but a lot of people are not receiving the treatment they need."

Wigan and Bolton Health Authority's Director of Commissioning, Brenda O'Driscoll, who is responsible for purchasing services, denied that the waiting lists had been cut under false pretences.

She told the BEN: "This was a waiting list initiative to assess the needs of patients who had been waiting a long time. Most of these patients had been waiting so long because their needs had been considered to be non-urgent."

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