§ Mr. HardyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what action she will take to ensure that a private out-patient cannot bypass existing national health service waiting lists; and what steps she has taken to determine the extent to which such patients are currently able to receive priority over NHS patients.
§ Mr. SackvilleNone. Any private work a consultant does is additional to his duties and is carried out in his own time, sometimes using resources bought from the health service. As a result more treatments are given, pressure on the national health service is relieved, and the generality of waiting times is not adversely affected.