Private hospitals underused during pandemic

A report has found that private hospitals treated a total of just eight patients with coronavirus a day during the pandemic despite a much-publicised multi-billion pound deal with the government.

In March 2020, the Treasury agreed  to pay for a deal to block-book the entire capacity of all 7,956 beds in England’s 187 private hospitals along with their almost 20,000 staff to help supplement the NHS’s efforts to cope with the unfolding pandemic. Although the exact figure it unclear, it is believed to have cost £400 million a month.

The Centre for Health and the Public Interest says that none of the goals outlined for the deal were achieved to a significant extent. The organisation claims that while underutilisation of the purchased capacity was a persistent feature of the contracts, successive renegotiations to cut costs and reduce the amount of capacity purchased left the NHS unprepared for the worst effects of the second wave of coronavirus.

According to the research, on 39 per cent of days between March 2020 and March 2021, private hospitals treated no patients with coronavirus at all and on a further 20 per cent of days they cared for only one person. Overall, they provided only 3,000 of the 3.6 million covid bed days in those 13 months – just 0.08 per cent of the total.

The CHPI also says that the 26 private hospital companies benefited significantly from the government deal, as the secure, government backed guarantee of their operating costs protected the sector from losses caused by the pandemic. The sector is now in a position to capitalise on the pent-up demand for healthcare.