Use of private sector medical facilities has become a standard part of the NHS and is set to grow, a...
Use of private sector medical facilities has become a standard part of the NHS and is set to grow, according to the Government.
In a response to a House of Commons Health Select Committee report on the role of the private sector in the NHS, secretary of state for health, Alan Milburn, said: 'Working with providers from the independent sector and from overseas is not a temporary measure. They will become a permanent feature of the new NHS landscape and will provide NHS services.'
The Government will make no changes in the way the service is funded, but accepts the NHS cannot remain the sole provider of public healthcare. Trusts will be free to arrange care from the most appropriate provider, public, private or voluntary. By 2005, patients will be able to choose where, when and by whom they are treated. There is also a commitment that trusts will be encouraged towards longer-term commissioning from the private sector, rather than spot purchasing as the need arises.
Duncan Cantor, public policy analyst at BUPA, said: 'BUPA's main priority is always going to be our insured and self-pay customers. Any capacity over and above that we will negotiate with NHS trusts. The emphasis is on NHS planning, making better use of spare private sector capacity. The longer in advance the NHS plans, the better we can work around both sets of customers.'
The Government has agreed to one inspectorate for all providers of healthcare services, and announced a new inspectorate, with a chief inspector of healthcare reporting directly to parliament.
Barry Hassell, chief executive of the Independent Healthcare Association, said: 'We have been seeking a single regulatory authority since 1998. We welcome the move. At the moment we are the only regulated healthcare in the UK ' the NHS is not inspected in the same way as we are.'
