Make more use of the private sector for NHS patients – Labor [Beuzz]

The English government should increase its reliance on the private sector to tackle the NHS backlog, according to the Labor Party.

He said up to 300,000 patients had missed treatment since he called for greater use of private clinics in January 2022.

And the party said it was unfair that inaction meant only those who could afford to pay for treatment themselves were seen on time.

The government said it was keeping its promises by reducing long waits.

However, data released by NHS England last week showed key targets for tackling delays in cancer care and routine treatment had been missed.

Overall, there are now a record 7.3 million people on a hospital waiting list, nearly three million more than before the pandemic began.

Health Minister Will Quince said: ‘The Conservatives have virtually eliminated wait times over two years and cut 18 month wait times by 91 per cent.’

He said Labor politicians were divided over the use of the private sector in the NHS, adding: ‘While Labor is fighting against itself over how to deliver care, we are reducing waiting lists and delivering to patients.”

However, Shadow Labor Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘It is completely unfair that only those who can afford to pay to go private are treated on time while everyone else is left behind.

“The work would use unused capacity in the private sector to get patients seen faster.

“If the Conservatives had put on their skates, almost 300,000 patients could have been treated, taken off the waiting list and lived their lives to the fullest again. Rishi Sunak’s procrastination and delays are costing patients dearly.”

This figure is based on the independent sector saying it had the capacity to do an additional 30% of the work it was doing for the NHS before the pandemic.

So instead of carrying out the 1.8 million treatments it has available for the NHS between January 2022 and March 2023, the private sector could have carried out 2.1 million, Labor said.

He urged the government to go ahead and publish the findings of the elective stimulus task force which looked at how to better use the private sector.

The task force completed its work in March, but its findings have yet to be published – although election rules meant it could not be published in the weeks before local elections in early May.

Under the arrangements in place, the private sector carries out NHS work at the same rates charged by NHS hospitals.

The criticism of Labor is seen as another sign of the party’s renewed interest in involving the private sector more in NHS care.

Labour’s last two leaders, Jeremy Corbyn and Ed Miliband, focused their election campaigns on protecting the NHS in England from privatisation.

But under the New Labor government of the late 1990s and 2000s, the role of the private sector grew in health services.

David Hare, chief executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network, said he was pleased to see the “cross-party consensus” on the role the private sector could play in the NHS.

“We look forward to the release of the task force report,” he added.