Private firms 'increasingly treating NHS patients'

A new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies has claimed private healthcare providers are increasingly treating NHS patients.

It was found that companies in the private sector now carry out 17 per cent of hip replacements, 17 per cent of hernia repairs and six per cent of gall bladder removals in England.

Jamie Reed, a shadow health minister and MP for Copeland, told the Guardian that using independent centres had been necessary during the last Labour government in order to clear a backlog of patients waiting for treatment.

"This is very different to the current government's privatisation of the core of the NHS," Mr Reed said, adding he believes that the NHS should always be given the first opportunity to provide its own healthcare services.

A spokesman for the British Medical Association stated the body believes that increasing competition could ultimately threaten the viability of NHS services, while health minister Lord Howe said the quality of patient care is what matters most.

Data released by the government recently showed a major reduction in NHS waiting times.

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