The NHS plans to use private hospitals to address a growing crisis as part of a £1 billion initiative to reduce waiting lists. This marks the largest expansion in healthcare since Tony Blair’s time as Prime Minister. Cancer screenings, surgeries, and intensive care for NHS patients would increasingly occur in private facilities under proposals sent to the Treasury before the Budget. A source indicated that the Government would eagerly utilize any available capacity to expedite patient treatment.
The NHS is urgently requesting additional funds ahead of the Budget on October 30. In his first speech as Health Secretary, Wes Streeting pledged to end the culture of constant financial requests to the Treasury. The plans could allow the independent sector to treat up to 2.5 million more patients, with some treatments available in just weeks. Private investment would be used to establish diagnostic centers nationwide for NHS patients, aiming to reduce cancer diagnosis delays and develop new surgical and intensive care units.
NHS waiting lists in England currently stand at 7.64 million, with concerns that the health service is facing a crisis as winter approaches. After Labour’s election win, Streeting described the NHS as broken. Since then, waiting lists have increased, and little progress has been made on promises for an extra 40,000 appointments. The Independent Healthcare Providers Network, representing private hospitals like Bupa and Circle Health Group, has communicated to the Chancellor and Health Secretary that over £1 billion of private sector capacity could be invested for NHS patient care.
Streeting is reportedly very interested in the proposals, which involve the private sector committing to a significant expansion using its own staff and facilities. Before the election, he indicated that a new Government would significantly increase the private sector’s role in NHS care. He described his vision for reform as New Labour on steroids.
The proposed expansion would exceed the measures taken by the Blair government, which utilized the private sector for NHS services from 2003 to 2010 by funding a network of private clinics for operations and tests. Although patient choice was introduced, allowing individuals to opt for private hospital care, this initiative created divisions within the party.
The new plans would greatly extend the use of private companies, enabling them to capture a larger market share. An independent investigation by Lord Darzi last month noted that the NHS was starved of capital, adversely affecting productivity due to insufficient diagnostic equipment and facilities.
Investment from private facilities would support the expansion of the health service. Over the next year, around 1 million NHS appointments could be scheduled at private units from existing capacity, starting in weeks. Additionally, around 1.5 million more operations and appointments would be available from newly expanded facilities within months. This could increase the number of NHS patients treated in private hospitals to approximately 7.5 million annually, up from 5 million.
In a letter to Rachel Reeves and Streeting, David Hare, chief executive of IHPN, stated that new facilities could be operational within months without drawing staff from the existing NHS workforce. Providers would recruit internationally and hire former NHS staff while also training new workers through apprenticeships.
Past attempts to involve independent hospitals have focused on simpler procedures like cataracts and hip and knee surgeries. However, the new plans would allow independent hospitals to broaden their capabilities, including building intensive care units for more complex cases. Currently, only one in seven private hospitals has such facilities, limiting their ability to manage complicated cases safely.
The proposals would also introduce community diagnostic centers, performing tests for diseases like cancer exclusively for NHS patients but operated by the private sector. The goal is to address immediate issues within the health service, utilizing capacity that can be established in the next year.
The IHPN indicated that well over £1 billion of private sector capital could be invested in NHS patient care if a long-term agreement is reached. A Government source noted that any additional capacity to reduce waiting lists and treat more NHS patients would be pursued vigorously.
Hare told The Telegraph that when Labour was last in power, it effectively reduced NHS waiting times by leveraging private sector capacity paid at NHS rates and encouraging private investment in new services. With record-high waiting lists and constrained public finances, the upcoming Budget presents a genuine chance to fulfill the government’s pre-election commitments to collaborate with the private sector for long-term improvements in NHS services.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman affirmed the government’s commitment to the core principles of the NHS, emphasizing that care will always be free at the point of use. If private sector capacity is available to treat patients on NHS terms, it will be utilized to help cut waiting lists.
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