Jan 13, 2022
NHS England questions cost of private hospital Covid deal
The head of NHS England has questioned whether a deal to pay private hospital providers to earmark capacity in case of a surge in Covid admissions represents "Good value for money". The providers have agreed to share capacity with the NHS in the event of NHS hospitals becoming overwhelmed. In her letter, sent on January 7, Pritchard pointed out that private providers would get paid at least 10 per cent more than NHS hospitals for doing the same procedures. Given that private hospitals rely on NHS medics to perform operations in their spare time, she warned that any outbreak of Covid would "Limit capacity at NHS and IS sites". The deal is also, on a per-bed basis, "Significantly more expensive than the equivalent cost of an NHS site with much less certainty on the potential staffed capacity", she wrote.
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