ARMA has been working with the Medical Technology Group (MTG) to raise concerns about increasing rationing of joint replacement surgery.
The MTG is a coalition of patient groups, research charities and medical device manufacturers working to improve access to cost effective medical technologies for everyone who needs them. MTG has concerns about treatment rationing in general and have launched the Ration Watch campaign to highlight care inequality and the impact it has on patients’ lives.
Ration Watch aims to expose the scale of rationing and the issues around local commissioning across the UK.
Ration Watch looks at individual commissioning polices, NHS activity and waiting times to describe the challenges some patients face. The campaign will work with local politicians, councillors, MPs, and national decision makers to help improve patient access to treatment regardless of where you’re based in the UK. Their website asks patients who have been denied life-enhancing treatments, such as hip surgery, to share their rationing stories.
Ration Watch believes that what you need, not where you are, should dictate the care you receive.