Private hospitals treated only eight Covid patients a day during the pandemic and performed fewer NHS-funded operations despite a lucrative deal with the Government…costing undisclosed £billions. 
The Centre for Health and Public Interest said in a report an arrangement believed to cost £400-million A MONTH from March 2020 block-booked the entire capacity of all 7,956 beds in England’s 187 private hospitals.
So why were we spending ££££ on (unused) Nightingale Hospitals?
So why were we spending ££££ on (unused) Nightingale Hospitals?
On 39% of days between March 2020 and March this year, private hospitals treated NO ‼️ Covid patients at all and on a further 20% of days they cared for only ONE ‼️person.
Overall, they provided only 3,000 of the 3.6m Covid bed days in those 13 months – just 0.08% of the total.
Overall, they provided only 3,000 of the 3.6m Covid bed days in those 13 months – just 0.08% of the total.
Here we have it. The private hospitals were unable to operate effectively….
…because…
Just like the Nightingale Hospitals…
They needed NHS staff who were working to the point of exhaustion on Covid & NHS wards.
…because…
Just like the Nightingale Hospitals…
They needed NHS staff who were working to the point of exhaustion on Covid & NHS wards.
Here we have it. The private hospitals were unable to operate effectively….
…because…
Just like the Nightingale Hospitals…
They needed NHS staff who were working to the point of exhaustion on Covid & NHS wards.
…because…
Just like the Nightingale Hospitals…
They needed NHS staff who were working to the point of exhaustion on Covid & NHS wards.
The NHS’s “under-utilisation of the private hospital sector” should not have surprised ministers, “because private hospitals may have beds and operating theatres, but they rely on NHS staff to carry out operations, and these NHS staff were busy working in NHS hospitals.”
“Which begs the question: why then did the government agree to this generous deal?”
Quite. Why? Ditto the Nightingale Hospitals.
Quite. Why? Ditto the Nightingale Hospitals.
In two letters to the wider NHS explaining why the deal had been struck and what it would cover, senior NHS officials were clear that it would include care for Covid patients with serious breathing problems as well as routine operations, such as hip and knee replacements.
Ryan criticised the continuing secrecy around the contract. Neither ministers nor NHSE have ever disclosed how much it cost the Treasury or given a breakdown of the number of non-Covid procedures that resulted.
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