15 February 2008
Next month's decision on seven planned NHS independent sector treatment centres will show whether the government is committed to reforming the service, the CBI said this week.
Ministers are due to decide whether to go ahead with the final seven second-wave ISTC contracts. The CBI business lobby is nervous as the Department of Health has cancelled 11 of the schemes in this wave, although a further nine have been given the green light.
Improving NHS performance and the expansion of Patient Choice from April, when patients can choose any provider for elective care that is willing to accept NHS tariffs, also raises questions about the need for ISTCs – which hold contracts to treat a specified number of patients.
The prime minister pledged 'deeper and wider reform' in his New Year's speech on health. The CBI insisted next month's decision will be the first test of that pledge.
CBI director of public services Neil Bentley said ISTCs were a success but the government had sent mixed signals about their future. This week's CBI report, ISTCs and the NHS: sticking plaster or real reform?, says they offer increased choice and has excellent patient satisfaction ratings.
Although the report acknowledges that the first wave of ISTCs provided an average of 84% of the contracted procedures (they are paid for all contracted work, including procedures not carried out), the CBI blamed the NHS for 'flawed commissioning' and local resistance to ISTCs.
Bentley added: 'The continuing vitality of the NHS in this, its sixtieth year, depends on its willingness to face up to the need for reform and change itself from within. Committing to ISTCs represents a commitment to reform.'
Meanwhile, NHS foundation trusts were told by regulator Monitor that rules governing the amount of private patient income they earn would be reviewed.
Unison had sought a judicial review of Monitor's interpretation of the cap on private income. The union believes the regulator should not allow foundations to avoid the cap by setting up joint ventures with private companies or by establishing charities.
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