Sunday, December 22, 2024

NHS spending record £12 billion on private hospitals

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The NHS is spending record sums outsourcing patients to private hospitals, official figures show.

More than £12 billion was spent in the past year on efforts to clear waiting lists by using the independent sector.

Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has said Labour will go “further” than Sir Tony Blair in using the private sector to ease NHS pressures, with more than six million people on waiting lists.

An elective recovery plan, due in the next few weeks, is expected to set out an extended role for independent hospitals in helping to clear backlogs.

The figures for 2023/24 show a 12 per cent increase in spending over the past year.

The total spent even surpasses the sum spent at the height of the pandemic, when private hospitals were block purchased yet much of the capacity never used.

Department of Health and Social Care accounts show £12.357 billion spent on independent sector providers in 2023/24, up from £11.015 billion in 2022/23.

The figure compares with £10.854 billion in 2021/22 and £12.139 billion during 2020/21, the first year of the pandemic.

Health officials said NHS use of the private sector has risen by 50 per cent since 2021.

Wes Streeting

Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has said the Government will ‘go further’ than Sir Tony Blair in using the private sector – PA/Ben Whitley

More than 100,000 appointments and procedures a week are now carried out by independent hospitals for the health service – up from 65,000 a week in 2021.

Sir Keir Starmer has pledged that the NHS will cut waiting times to 18 weeks for 92 per cent of patients by the end of Labour’s current term.

The standard has not been hit since 2015.

David Hare, chief executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network, said: “These latest figures show the increasingly pivotal role of independent providers in the NHS’ recovery, including through now delivering one in five NHS-funded operations and diagnostics tests, as well as a significant proportion of NHS community services.

“With the Government firmly committed to meeting the NHS’ 18-week target in a little over four years, the sector is an integral part of clearing the NHS backlog, not only by delivering increasing amounts of NHS activity but also through investing in new facilities across the country for the benefit of NHS patients.”

He said that the network’s own analysis suggested that the number of operations and appointments being carried out would need to increase by a fifth immediately, for the 18-week target to be hit.

This would mean around 320,000 people being taken off NHS waiting lists every month.

Under national policies of patient choice, patients are supposed to be able to choose from a number of different providers of care, including a private provider.

But every month, around 90,000 appointment slots made available by private hospitals and clinics every month for use by the NHS go unused, Mr Hare said.

Saffron Cordery, NHS Providers interim chief executive, said: “With waiting list numbers so high, NHS trusts welcome the support of longstanding independent sector partners – with the costlier and more complex treatments usually staying in NHS hands – so that more patients get tests, scans and treatment as quickly as possible.

“But using the independent sector isn’t a long-term solution to bringing down NHS waiting lists.

“The government’s promised 10-year plan for the NHS, with a shift to more community-based healthcare and prevention of ill-health, is a chance to give the NHS the capacity it needs to meet growing demand, reduce waiting lists and see patients as quickly as possible.”

Saffron CorderySaffron Cordery

Saffron Cordery, NHS Providers interim chief executive, says using the independent sector is not the long-term solution to cutting waiting lists – PA/Jordan Pettitt

The NHS was criticised for agreeing a £2 billion block contract with the private sector during the early months of the pandemic, amid fears the health service would be overwhelmed, only to make little use of the extra capacity.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We have inherited a broken NHS, but through our Plan for Change we will turn the health service around and ensure every penny we put into the NHS is spent wisely.

“Where there is spare capacity in the private sector which can be used to treat patients, on NHS terms, free at the point of use, we will use it to cut waiting lists.”

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