Independent hospitals in West Midlands put on standby to help NHS under new deal
A new deal will see independent hospitals across the region put on standby to take the stain off the NHS if local services become overwhelmed, it has been announced.
The virus has been the reason behind more than half of NHS staff absences in parts of the Black Country.
But local NHS hospitals would get help from organisations such as Nuffield Health and Spire Healthcare, which have bases in the region, should the Omicron variant lead to unsustainable levels of hospitalisations or staff absences.
If triggered, routine services at an independent sector site will be suspended to make facilities and staff available to the health service.
The three-month agreement, which has been struck under direction from the Secretary of State, will allow NHS trusts to send a wider range of patients to the independent sector for treatment, including those requiring some forms of cancer surgery and other care not normally delivered under existing arrangements.
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid described the deal as one that "ensures people can continue to get the care they need from our world-leading NHS, whenever they need it".
According to NHS England, more than 470,000 NHS day cases, almost 2.8m surgical procedures and more than 500,000 diagnostic tests have been carried out in the private sector in the last year.
NHS England chief operating officer and Covid incident director Sir David Sloman said: “NHS staff have done an incredible job over the last year recovering elective treatment levels and then keeping non-Covid services going as pressures have built.
“As part of this millions of patients have already got their tests and treatment quicker thanks to our existing deal with independent providers.
“With the high number of Omicron cases placing even greater pressure on hospitals now and over the coming weeks, this deal, struck under direction from the Secretary of State, means as many people as possible can continue to get the care they need.
“It also places independent health providers on standby to provide further help should hospitals face unsustainable levels of hospitalisations or staff absences.
“Just like the Nightingale hubs being created across the country, we hope never to need their support but it will be there if needed."
Among the independent providers NHS England has struck the deal with are Nuffield Health, which has a site in Wolverhampton; Spire Healthcare, which has hospitals in Sutton Coldfield and Solihull, and Ramsay Health Care UK which has hospitals in Stafford and Stourbridge.
Others include Practice Plus Group, Circle Health Group, Healthcare Management Trust, One Healthcare, Horder Healthcare, Aspen Healthcare and KIMS Hospital.
David Hare, chief executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network, said: “Independent sector providers have worked shoulder-to-shoulder with the NHS throughout the pandemic, playing a key role in enabling vital NHS care including cancer and cardiology treatment to continue, whilst also maintaining services for private patients.
"The arrangements just announced will help to bolster planned NHS care including cancer treatment this winter whilst ensuring that independent sector providers can continue to treat private patients.
“The arrangements will also provide the NHS with additional targeted support in the event that local NHS pressures are deemed as unsustainable.”
The Health Service Journal reported that about two-thirds of the private sector capacity block-purchased by the NHS went unused by the service between June and the end of September 2020.
