30 September 2005
Leaked official documents suggest that the government is planning far wider private sector involvement in the NHS than previously admitted, a senior member of the Common's health select committee has told Public Finance.
The documents, seen by PF, relate to the contractual arrangements for the second wave of private sector treatment centres and are dated September 8. They state that the Department of Health intends to 'develop a sustainable independent sector market' to 'provide an increasing volume and range of both elective procedures and diagnostic tests for NHS patients'.
The statement casts doubt on the assurances given by government ministers and the 2004 NHS Improvement Plan that the private sector would provide no more than 15% of NHS operations.
'It appears that we have lost that definite assurance,' Dr Richard Taylor, independent MP for Wyre Forest, told PF. '
Taylor added: 'The really worrying thing is that the word “sustainable” appears so many times. So gone are any illusions that the government is trying to use the private sector just to bail out the NHS on a temporary basis. This is “sustainable” and there is no limit mentioned.'
The documents were sent to private sector health companies that expressed an interest in the £2.5bn worth of diagnostic and elective treatment centre contracts that the DoH has put out to tender.
While the 24 centrally commissioned contracts are only offered for five years, the documentation says that contractors will subsequently 'develop strong relationships with NHS referrers and build a recognisable identity with both clinicians and patients. Thereafter, the IS [independent sector] provider will operate within a stable and sustainable market, meaning that further centralised procurements may not be necessary.'
Defending the contracts, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt this week denied that they represented 'marketisation' of the NHS.
She also responded to concerns that private providers were being given unfair advantages by confirming that, unlike in the first wave of contracts, primary care trusts would not be obliged to guarantee a number of patients to the second-wave providers.
However, the contract documents reveal that they will be guaranteed specified revenues from the DoH: 'The DH/NHS will guarantee a volume of referrals sufficient to enable the provider to deliver a proportion of contracted activity. The DH/NHS will pay for any shortfall in the guaranteed proportion of the contract activity that results from insufficient appropriate cases being referred.'
A DoH spokesman said: 'It would not be appropriate to make any further comments on the details of these procurements before briefing those who have made expressions of interest.'
The DoH expects to sign contracts in summer 2006.
PFsep2005
