Private care soars at some hospital trusts despite huge NHS backlogs

Hospital trusts are under huge financial pressure, but are efforts to boost their income from private patients coming at a cost? Lawrence Dunhill reports Growth in numbers of private patient cases at some NHS hospitals has accelerated since the covid pandemic, despite backlogs of publicly funded patients. Analysis by The BMJ has identified several hospital trusts that grew their private elective care work by a significantly higher margin than their NHS activity over the past five years. One think tank raised concerns that hospitals may be choosing to prioritise private patients ahead of NHS cases, as trusts seek to bring in additional revenue to meet stringent financial targets. Last month Healthwatch England warned of an increasing “two tier” health system after a report from the watchdog described a surge in patients seeking private care.1 Among the 20 trusts with the most private activity, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) had the largest increase over the past five years, The BMJ ’s analysis found (see box 1 for methods). Box 1 ### How The BMJ ’s analysis was done The BMJ examined activity data at the 20 NHS trusts with the largest incomes from private patients and identified seven (see second chart) that grew activity at their private patient unit by a higher margin than their NHS activity between 2019-20 and 2024-25 (first chart). Private activity data were accessed through the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN),2 which publishes finished consultant episodes for inpatient and day cases. NHS trusts are legally required to submit detailed and accurate data to PHIN. Where trusts submitted incomplete data, such as Oxford University Hospital in 2019-20, a projected annual figure was calculated from completed submissions in that year. Great Ormond Street Hospital said its published private activity data were incorrect but provided … RETURN TO TEXT