NHS hospitals boost private-sector work

NHS trusts have received a record boost in their private work at a time when more than one million NHS patients still languish on hospital waiting lists.

Income from private patients rose 7.6 per cent to £359m in 2001-02, almost twice the rate of growth in the previous two years, according to the latest figures. One third of the total is generated by the top 10 trusts, eight of which are in London. The highest earner is the Royal Marsden cancer hospital, which netted £19.3m from private patients, almost a quarter of its total core income. The NHS is the largest provider of private care in the UK, with 3,000 pay beds. Ministers have justified them by saying that the income generated is ploughed back into the NHS. But last year, after a critical report from the Health Select Committee, Alan Milburn, the Health Secretary, ordered health authorities to rethink their use.

The committee found many units were unprofitable and called for them to be returned to the NHS. Its chairman, David Hinchliffe, said: "We found the situation varied from area to area. In some cases trusts can make a strong case [for keeping pay beds open]. But overall my view is that the benefits in terms of value to the NHS have been grossly overstated. It would make more sense to use these beds for NHS patients rather than private patients."

The Independent Hospital Association, which represents the private sector, said there was "huge capacity going to waste" in the NHS because of the underuse of NHS private beds. A spokesman said: "There is a moral issue here. There is an opportunity for the NHS to treat an extra 15,000 to 20,000 patients a year if these beds were used to capacity. We have heard for 50 years that the NHS does not have the capacity to treat all its patients so it seems very odd that it should seek marginal gains from treating private patients when its moral responsibility should be to treat NHS patients."

Private hospitals run by Bupa and other operators claim they have the capacity to treat up to 200,000 extra patients a year if the cash were available to pay for them.

Philip Blackburn, of the private health consultants Laing and Buisson, which published the figures, said there was no way to find out how much the NHS earned from its private work because the amounts were not published separately. "I would love to see the figures [for private work] but NHS trusts are not required to provide them," he said.

Ministers have pledged to limit private patient revenue in foundation hospitals, the first tranche of which is to be announced later this year. The private sector has treated 80,000 NHS patients under the concordat agreed by Mr Milburn but private companies claim that figure could be doubled.