The breast implants scandal continued to dominate the news agenda as health secretary Andrew Lansley said it was the “moral duty” of cosmetic surgery companies to offer free care to remove implants made by the French firm PIP.
The Sunday Telegraph reported ministers were urging “victims of the implant scandal” to seek legal advice if their provider refused to offer the surgery.
However, Monday’s Daily Mail reported many private providers were blaming the government for the fiasco, citing the failure of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to properly assess the implants, which were made with industrial grade silicon.
Read more: Nuffield Trust pledges to cover implant surgery costs
On Monday the Daily Telegraph estimated the taxpayer could face a bill of up to £11m to cover the cost of treatment for affected women.
The paper also reported that older patients were bearing the “brunt of NHS bed cuts” after more than half of the beds closed by the 39 trusts which responded to a freedom of information request were shown to be for older people.
In the Financial Times, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence chair Sir Michael Rawlins used an interview to complain the organisation was always being portrayed as the bad guy.
He suggested patient groups should consider taking NHS trusts to court for refusing to provide drugs approved by NICE.
Meanwhile, prime minister David Cameron’s pledge to do away with paperwork to allow nurses to focus on caring was widely reported.
Joyce Robins from Patient Concern was among commentators queuing up to tell the Daily Mail it was “dreadful” the prime minister was having to remind nurses to talk to patients.
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