Thank you for contacting me about independent sector providers and the NHS.
The Government is clear that the NHS will always provide healthcare free at the point of delivery, regardless of ability to pay. This principle applies whether NHS-funded care is being delivered by an NHS, voluntary or independent healthcare provider.
The use of independent providers and the voluntary sector have historically played a role in the delivery of NHS services, including under the previous Labour government.
Under the NHS Constitution, patients have “the right to access certain services commissioned by NHS bodies within maximum waiting times, or for the NHS to take all reasonable steps to offer you a range of suitable alternative providers if this is not possible.”
I note your comments regarding the claims being made in the We Own It campaign about the use of private and independent healthcare providers to deliver NHS care. It is important to note that even the authors of the University of Oxford study themselves note in their conclusion that: “Our findings should not be interpreted as necessarily showing a causal relationship between outsourcing and mortality rates.”
The Government is committed to improving standards of patient safety, wherever NHS or independent sector care is provided. This has included establishing the Health Services Safety Investigation Body to investigate patient safety concerns, including care at private or independent healthcare provider settings.
As we seek to reduce the treatment backlog built up during the Covid-19 pandemic, independent providers have a valuable role to play in reducing NHS waiting times, by allowing patients to be treated in a private healthcare setting whilst being funded by the NHS, freeing up capacity in NHS hospitals.
The Government is ensuring the NHS has the necessary investment to deliver better care for patients, providing an extra £45.6 billion in funding for health and social care to 2024-25. As set out in the 2021 Spending Review, NHS England’s day-to-day budget is set to grow by 3.8 per cent on average up to 2024/25, supporting the NHS to tackle the treatment backlog, and deliver its Long Term Plan. A further £4.7 billion in funding will be provided to support adult social care and discharge in 2024/25.
In addition, the Government is making the largest health capital investment in a decade, including the hospital rebuilding programme, and funding for new community diagnostic centres, surgical hubs and mental health urgent and emergency care facilities.
On the Island, in addition to the investment in the new Community Diagnostic Centre at St Marys, the Hospital is one of 20 which is benefiting from new Government funding to upgrade outdated facilities and equipment. This includes improvements worth £6.4m to the intensive care unit, a £12.2m new emergency care floor and £5.1m for acute bed reconfiguration as well as a £6.7m integrated mental health and community hub in Newport High Street. In addition, the Isle of Wight NHS has also been awarded a further £9m (in addition to the £12.5m already secured) to modernise digital technology, IT infrastructure and clinical systems.
Recruitment has also improved significantly. 22 local nurses completed their Registered Nurse Degree via the IOW NHS Trust and vacancies are being filled with the current induction of 50 Health Care Assistants in addition to the 120 nurses that have been recruited from overseas recently.
I’m glad that, working with others, we have delivered these successes for the Island. At a national level, this Government is working to deliver a well-funded, sustainable and high-performing health and social care service.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
