Millions more NHS patients will receive free treatment in private hospitals under Government plans to slash waiting lists.
Sir Keir Starmer yesterday pledged to make ‘better use’ of the private sector so sick Britons can be seen more quickly for a wider range of issues.
GPs will be forced to actively tell patients when they can get their scans, tests or operations at a private clinic.
And appointments will be booked via an updated NHS App or website, which will tell users their expected waiting times at each NHS and private provider, the distance from their home and their care quality ratings.
Patients can then choose between them, with taxpayers footing the bill regardless of the option selected.
Patient groups last night welcomed the announcement but critics questioned how the extra appointments will be delivered given the country’s shortage of healthcare staff.
The policy is expected to see the number of appointments delivered by the private sector increase by at least a fifth, from 5 million to more than 6 million, each year.
It means private providers are likely to pocket an extra £2.5billion a year in government funding – taking their annual income from the Department of Health and Social Care to almost £16billion.
Sir Keir Starmer pledged yesterday to make better use of the private sector to treat NHS patients for free so people can be seen more quickly for a wider range of issues
GPs will be forced to actively tell patients when they can get their scans, tests or operations at a private clinic (file photo)
While patient groups welcomed the announcement, critics questioned how the plans would be executed given the shortage of healthcare staff (file photo)
If the scheme proves a success, the firms could invest £1billion in opening clinics in underserved areas, allowing for 1.5 million more appointments a year.
Patients do already have a right to receive NHS care in the private sector but fewer than a quarter of patients recall being offered it. Some GPs or health chiefs have been reluctant to promote the option, and firms have strict exclusion criteria allowing them to cherrypick the easiest cases.
The Prime Minister unveiled his plans during a speech at Epsom Hospital, Surrey, where he outlined how he intends to reform NHS elective care.
He acknowledged some on the Left will object to the expanded use of the private sector but insisted he is ‘not interested in putting ideology before patients’ and is determined to ensure everyone can get access to timely care when they need it.
Under the ‘historic’ new deal between the NHS and the independent sector, women awaiting gynaecological waiting lists and orthopaedics patients will be among those to be offered free treatment in the private sector.
In gynaecology, there is currently a backlog of 260,000 women waiting longer than the 18-week target for treatment, while in orthopaedics more than 40 per cent of patients are waiting longer.
The independent sector has agreed to review its ‘clinical exclusion criteria’ to ensure as ‘broad a cohort of patients as possible’ can be treated in private hospitals. The providers will be paid the same rate as NHS hospitals for the treatments they deliver.
The independent sector has agreed to review its ‘clinical exclusion criteria’ to ensure as ‘broad a cohort of patients as possible’ can be treated in private hospitals (file photo)
An estimated 6.34 million people were on NHS waiting lists for 7.54 million treatments at the end of October, figures show.
Sir Keir vowed to diagnose and treat 92 per cent of patients within 18 weeks of receiving a referral from a GP by the end of this Parliament – up from 35 per cent now and a target that has not been met for almost a decade.
The Government hopes to slash waiting times by creating a bigger network of community diagnostic centres, which will provide tests, scans and endoscopies 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
GPs will be able to refer patients to these centres without prior consultation with a consultant.
Sir Keir said rebuilding the NHS is the ‘cornerstone’ of rebuilding Britain and ‘no institution’ is more important to the security of the country.
But he stressed it cannot become a ‘national money pit’, adding: ‘To catapult the service into the future, we need an NHS that is reformed from top to bottom – millions of extra appointments signed, sealed and delivered with the plan that we are launching here today.’’
Deborah Alsina, chief executive of charity Versus Arthritis, said: ‘We’re pleased to see today’s Elective Recovery Plan for reducing NHS waiting times, a crucial step in helping to ensure people with arthritis can access the treatment they need.
A larger network of community diagnostic centres will provide tests and scans 24/7 in order to reduce waiting times, the Government has said (file photo)
But Dr Tony O’Sullivan, of campaign group Keep Our NHS Public, said: ‘Private “spare capacity” relies on NHS staff and funding to resource their expansion.
‘Feeding the parasite undermines the health of the NHS host.’ Writing in today’s Mail, Health Secretary Wes Streeting says the plan will put an end to ‘Dickensian’ horror stories of people going into debt or launching fundraisers to pay for their operations.
He adds: ‘Whether you are the richest person in this country or the poorest, you should be able to get quality healthcare when you need it.
‘That is why we have made a new agreement with the independent sector, the first of its kind for 25 years.’
