Nearly one in five NHS operations are now being carried out in private hospitals or clinics, new analysis reveals.
Data from the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) revealed that private facilities delivered the equivalent of 2,859 NHS procedures every working day in April.
The figure is an increase of over 60 per cent compared to the same month in 2019, and a record high.
Overall, the independent sector is delivering 10 per cent of all NHS planned care, up from eight per cent before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The IHPN also said that the number of referrals it had received also reached a new high, with private providers receiving 7,162 referrals each working day in April.
Meanwhile, official NHS data show that the waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England has fallen to its lowest level for two years.
An estimated 7.39 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of April, relating to 6.23 million patients, down from 7.42 million treatments and 6.25 million patients at the end of March.
The government has set out plans to send more patients for treatment in private hospitals to slash waiting lists.
David Hare, chief executive of the IHPN, said that this latest data “shows the independent sector’s increasingly pivotal role in delivering frontline NHS care”.
He said private hospitals delivering record levels of NHS care will be “instrumental in helping the government to meet their key milestone to ensure 92 per cent of patients are treated within 18 weeks by the end of this Parliament”.
“While this is a clear sign of welcome progress in tackling NHS waiting lists, the sector is committed to building on this already impressive achievement and will be working with the Government to ensure the principles contained in the recent NHS and Independent Sector Partnership Agreement are fully embedded – enabling patients to have a greater choice over their care so they can get the treatment they need, when they need it.”
