19 May 2006
Figures obtained by Public Finance suggest that NHS patients treated in private hospitals are more likely to require emergency readmission than those treated in the NHS.
The figures on emergency readmission rates for 2004 were released to PF under the Freedom of Information Act. They show that the average ERA rate within 28 days for small NHS acute trusts in England was 8.8% of all relevant discharges. For NHS patients treated in private sector hospitals or clinics, the ERA was 9.4%.
However, the small number of patients treated by the private sector (3,747 in 2004) required the analysts to build in a large margin of error. They therefore conclude that the ERA rate for the private sector is between 7.9% and 11.1%.
For small NHS trusts, the large number of patients treated means the figure can be more precise: between 8.7% and 8.9%.
But Jonathan Fielden, chair of the BMA consultants committee, said the figures were 'concerning', as the simpler case mix taken by private clinics should result in much lower ERAs.
'It shows here that independent sector readmissions within 28 days are possibly considerably higher, or at best the same [as the NHS]. If you take into account that IS-treated patients are filtered, have a lower morbidity, are the more straightforward cases, have fewer other problems, are the simplest cohort of patients, there should be very few reasons for emergency readmission.'
The figures also revealed that out of the 56 private hospitals treating NHS patients in 2004, 22 had ERAs above the national average (9.3% of relevant discharges). However, only six hospitals had sufficient patients for the analysts to make reliable comparisons. Three of these had ERAs above the national average (10.8%, 11.2% and 13.7% of discharges) while three had ERAs below the average at 3%, 6.6% and 7.4%.
In a letter to PF, an official from the Department of Health said that wide margins of error in the data for the private sector meant that 'there is no statistically significant difference in the proportion of patients readmitted between patients treated in NHS hospitals and NHS patients treated by the independent sector.'
Late last month Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt announced a review of the standards of clinical care at private treatment centres.
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