Bupa could be probed by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) following a complaint from a hospital about...
Bupa could be probed by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) following a complaint from a hospital about the insurer's new network arrangements, writes Kirstie Redford.
St Anthony's Hospital in Surrey filed the complaint after Bupa conducted a national tender of routine elective out-patient MRI scans earlier this year. The hospital failed the tender process meaning that patients have to go elsewhere for scans, despite receiving the rest of their treatment at the hospital and listing St Anthony's as their preferred provider.
Brian Clarke, hospital director at St Anthony's, said altering network arrangements undermined the whole concept of private medical insurance (PMI). "The move by Bupa goes against the heart of PMI, which is that patients have the choice of where, when and by who they get treated," he said.
Clarke added that narrowing the choice of radiologists could put the quality of treatment in jeopardy. "Operating surgeons choose radiologists very carefully and often work closely with them so that they can speak the same language when interpreting results. Separating reporting radiologists from surgeons has already led to requests for repeat scans," he said.
Lara Gorman, spokesperson for the OFT, confirmed it had received a complaint from St Anthony's saying it had been unfairly prevented from joining Bupa's preferred provider network for MRI scans. "The OFT is currently still considering the substance of this complaint," she said.
Natalie-Jane Macdonald, medical director of Bupa UK Health Insurance, said the objective of the tender was to ensure consistent quality of service, together with fair pricing. She said: "St Anthony's was unsuccessful because it was too expensive. The hospital was given the opportunity to improve its pricing during the tender process but chose not to do so."
