Private deals on public purse

NHS chiefs have calculated 20bn in savings are required in the years ahead as the NHS makes do with its existing resources after a decade of unprecedented investment. Primarily, district hospitals are expected to be downsized as resources are shifted into the community – but another area which seems ripe for cuts is the use of the private sector by the NHS, which has grown significantly since 2000. Biggest of all is the 12.7bn NHS IT contract to overhaul paper-based patient records, which has been beset by glitches and delays and is now feared to be on the brink of collapse.

But bean-counters should also focus their attention on other areas. The Government turned to the private sector partly to quickly increase woeful NHS capacity after decades of neglect, but also to inject competition into health markets – so far with precious little impact.

Among its first creations were independent sector treatment centres to carry out routine surgery and tests, which have guaranteed incomes no matter how many patients are referred to them – and most have treated too few patients.

Today the Yorkshire Post reveals problems with another contract for hi-tech cancer scans which, until relatively recently, have only been readily accessible to patients in London.

But once again, despite widening access through the contract, too few patients are being referred for care. Once again, taxpayers are left to pick up the bill. Ministers have hidden behind claims of commercial confidentiality on the deals but investigations by this newspaper

suggest the contracts have been poor value for money.

Whichever party assumes power next month, it should lead a war on waste. And it could do no better than start with a review of how the NHS is using the private sector. Every single penny of taxpayers' cash should be properly spent.