NHS MAKING LESS USE OF PRIVATE HOSPITALS

THE use of private hospitals by the NHS is now lower than before the pandemic began, according to official figures.

With a record 6.1 million patients waiting for operations, Health Secretary Sajid Javid last week said the NHS would make greater use of private hospitals.

But only 187,881 NHS patients were treated in private hospitals between December 2021 and January 2022, almost ten per cent less than the 207,898 between December 2019 and January 2020.

The fall is even steeper in some key specialities. The number of NHS gastro-enterology patients slumped, by 44 per cent over the same period from 15,770 to 8,841.

David Hare, chief executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network, representing private hospitals, said the NHS ‘needs to make much better use of existing private sector capacity’.

An NHS spokesman said: ‘Millions of patients are already getting tests and treatments more quickly’, and the recently launched website My Planned Care ‘is helping patients get more personalised information and care’.