Call for police to jump NHS queues (From Gazette & Herald)

Call for police to jump NHS queues

POLICE officers should be able to "jump the queue" for NHS care to help get them back on the beat, according to North Yorkshire's chief constable.

However, a spokesman for the local police federation thinks it's a bad idea.

Della Cannings, who has campaigned nationally on strategies to get officers back to work more quickly, said she would support priority treatment for injured bobbies.

"I want to maximise the extent to which police officers are out and about, visible and active, and able to undertake their job," she said. "I want to be able to improve performance without using extra police cash to fund additional diagnoses or treatment for health issues."

Ms Cannings recently stood down from the position of health and safety spokesperson for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), a role she held for three years.

She said: "While working with the Home Office on strategies for a healthier police service, this is a point I have continued to stress. I have encouraged work with the department of health to bring about change, but it is an area which I have not been able to influence as much as I would have wished."

Bob Humpleby, of the North Yorkshire Police Federation, said many police officers already contribute to their own health care through a private scheme or the Northern Police Convalescence Fund.

He said: "Officers are already doing all these things to get back to work. In my opinion, the standard of NHS care should be raised for everybody, not just the police.

"My concern would be that if we started jumping NHS queues, then we might run the risk of alienating members of the public."

Professor Alan Maynard, York University health economist and chairman of York Hospital, welcomed an open debate on a "difficult" subject.

He said that the NHS ran on the principle of equal treatment for all, but that he suspected some are being prioritised for a variety of reasons, such as age and employment, at practitioner level.

"If we follow the chief constable, then we may find that elderly people are having to wait longer. But this should be discussed in an open debate.

"It comes down to the fact that we cannot treat all people instantly in the NHS and in all systems there is waiting of some sort."

Updated: 09:23 Wednesday, January 21, 2004