Surgery results ‘better for patients at private treatment centres’

But the audit by the Royal College of Surgeons found it reflected differences in patients treated in independent sector treatment centres, who tended to be younger, in better health and from more affluent areas than those treated by NHS hospitals.

The findings are likely to add weight to claims the centres, set up by Labour to cut NHS waiting lists, “cherrypick” more straightforward cases.

The audit of 25,000 patients found NHS hospitals treated almost double the number of sicker patients requiring hip and knee replacements and a higher numbers of patients with two or more extra health problems.

Patients undergoing varicose vein surgery were three times more likely to need further treatment if they were seen at a NHS hospital, while those undergoing hernia operations had a 40 per cent higher risk of reporting a poor operation than those at independent providers.

The college said separating rotas for emergency and planned surgery was likely to ensure better outcomes for patients irrespective of whether operations were carried out by private companies or the NHS.

Its president Prof Norman Williams said: “This study suggests that patients treated at units dedicated to elective surgery experience improved outcomes.

“However, it also showed that independent sector providers have taken younger, fitter patients and we need to guard against any drift that could destabilise hospitals.

“Sicker patients have needs that only a comprehensive hospital can provide.”