Treatment centres are medical institutions in the United Kingdom which provide routine diagnostic and surgery procedures to day-case and short-stay patients. By diverting these patients away from hospitals, they aim to reduce waiting lists by allowing hospitals to concentrate on emergency and more complex elective cases. Treatment centres were set up as part of the 2002 National Health Service (NHS) Plan to inject more money into the NHS.
The NHS Plan originally conceived of opening eight treatment centres by 2005, but by August 2005 at least 25 had already been opened, with more being planned. Most Treatment Centres are NHS-run, but some of them are run by the independent sector.
There are now 46 NHS treatment centres open since 2003. They treat approximately 300,000 patients a year with high rate of patient satisfaction (>94%).
Famous quotes containing the words treatment and/or centre:
“The treatment of the incident of the assault upon the sailors of the Baltimore is so conciliatory and friendly that I am of the opinion that there is a good prospect that the differences growing out of that serious affair can now be adjusted upon terms satisfactory to this Government by the usual methods and without special powers from Congress.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)
“Him, the vindictive rod of angry justice
Sent, quick and howling, to the centre headlong;
I, fed with judgements,in a fleshy tomb, am
Buried above ground.”
—William Cowper (1731–1800)