§ 63. Mr. MaplesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of collaboration between the national health service and the private sector on services to patients.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe independent health sector performs some 510,000 operations and treats 900,000 out-patients each year. It also provides 68,000 nursing home beds, mainly for long-stay elderly patients. This represents a significant additional input to national health care.
The Government's White Paper "Working for Patients" encourages increased collaboration with the independent sector. It is frequently mutually beneficial to share expensive resources, and there are numerous examples of NHS and independent units collaborating in the use of buildings, high-technology equipment, support services and key manpower. Such joint ventures increase the options available to NHS managers as well as to patients, and release or generate resources in the NHS for further improvement in health services for all. The independent sector also makes a useful contribution in helping to reduce waiting times.
§ 107. Mr. FishburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what examples there are of partnerships between the national health service and the private sector currently operating.
§ Mr. DorrellA number of successful and cost-effective joint ventures are operating between the health service and independent sector which release NHS resources for further improvement to health services for all. Some examples are shown in the table.
Health Authority Provider Nature of service Central Manchester Nuffield Hospitals Eye surgery Coventry Bioplan Day surgery and Endoscopy National Hospital for Nervous Diseases Special Health Authority BUPA Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scanner West Lambeth Churchill Clinic ENT surgery West Midlands Region AMI Priory Hospital Birmingham Lithotripsy
§ 91. Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on collaboration between the national health service and the private sector.
§ Mr. DorrellI refer my hon. Friend to the reply my hon. Friend the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Mr. Janman) on 1 May at column517.