NHS outsourcing fuels inequality and longer waits, study shows
A general view of medical equipment on a NHS hospital ward at Ealing Hospital in LondonNHS outsourcing is fuelling inequality and lengthening waiting times, with wealthier patients receiving faster treatment than poorer ones, a study revealed today.
Researchers found that expanding private providers into NHS-funded care has reduced surgical admissions at NHS hospitals and driven up waiting times across the board.
Private hospitals are disproportionately located in wealthier areas and poorer patients, who are often sicker, are less likely to be admitted.With NHS capacity under pressure, the study warned that those on lower incomes are now waiting longer for care, receiving less support at home and facing greater barriers in travelling to private hospitals. On average, patients treated by private providers via the NHS waited only half as long as those treated in NHS hospitals.The poorest 20 per cent of patients are significantly less likely to be treated in the private sector and face longer waiting times than the wealthiest 20 per cent.Between 2003 and 2008, when private involvement in NHS treatment was minimal, surgical admissions rose and waiting times more than halved. But from 2008 onwards, as private sector provision expanded, NHS capacity fell and waiting times increased.Study co-author Professor Allyson Pollock of Newcastle University said: “The private sector is now substituting for, not adding to, NHS capacity.
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