Royal Free chairman Dominic Dodd admits hospital could increase the number of paying patients it treats
NHS private treatment ‘makes sense’
Published: 10 March, 2011
by TOM FOOT
FEARS that government health reforms will increase the number of private patients treated in Camden’s NHS hospitals have been confirmed by the chairman of the Royal Free.
Dominic Dodd told a meeting of Camden Council’s health scrutiny committee it made “absolute sense” in the proposed competitive healthcare marketplace.
He said: “We plan to expand our private capacity and activity in order to provide extra funding.”
The Royal Free is facing a massive drop in funding from central government which has at the same time abolished the “cap” on the amount of private income NHS hospitals are allowed to make.
Speaking last Thursday, Mr Dodd said he now saw private patients as an “alternative funding source”, adding: “As long as we make money out of it and we can use that to subsidise the NHS services.”
He said he expected NHS emergency services – including the intensive treatment units and emergency theatre – to be “ring-fenced” for NHS patients.
The private profits will come from increasing specialist treatments for fee-paying patients inside the hospital.
Mr Dodd said: “I share the concern that it doesn’t detract from NHS business. We need to look carefully at how we expand private practice. But will we use it as a source of income? Yes we will. The NHS will always come first – the reason for doing this is tactical funding.”
The Social Health Care Bill, proposed by Tory Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, will hand responsibility for NHS budgets to GPs and allow them to “buy” treatment for patients from “any willing provider”. NHS hospitals will be put in direct competition with private healthcare firms such as like UnitedHeath or Care UK.
Mr Dodd added: “We have an advantage that we provide complex surgery that other providers will not be able to do.”
The Royal Free is applying to become an independently run Foundation Trust hospital which are free from private patient income restrictions set by government. The hospital’s income from private patients was around £20million last year, about 4 per cent of the hospital’s total revenue.
The New Journal revealed last month how the Royal Free is owed £4.7m in “private patient debt”.
Councillor John Bryant, chairman of the scrutiny committee, said he would send a “supportive statement in the post” regarding the hospital’s application.