‘Fast-track surgery’ companies unveiled
The companies that are set to run 24 new fast track surgery centres in England have been announced by Health Secretary John Reid.
The new treatment centres are a key part of the Government’s drive to cut waiting times for patients. It hopes they will carry out 250,000 operations a year by 2005, mainly minor day surgery and operations such as cataract surgery and hip and knee replacements.
Ministers have selected two British companies as well as ones from Canada, South Africa and the United States.
British based Mercury Health Ltd will run nine centres across England, and Birkdale Clinic, which is also British-based, will operate a centre at Daventry. US company Nations Healthcare will run two centres in Bradford and Burton while another US firm New York Presbyterian will run two centres in Stanmore and Somerset.
Announcing the firms Mr Reid explained that although the NHS is growing quickly, even more capacity is needed to ensure that patients wait no longer than six months by the end of 2005.
‘That is why we are working with the Independent Sector to provide additional operations to cut waiting times for NHS patients,’ he stated.
The companies on the shortlist will now be working with the NHS to finalise contracts with the aim of having some of the services up and running by early 2004.
The centres are proving highly controversial as operations carried out in them will cost much more than in normal NHS hospitals. The government will also pay a ‘market forces factor’ to cover start-up costs.
Frank Dobson, the former Labour health secretary who is leading a backbench revolt against the government’s NHS reforms, explained: ‘If anybody wanted confirmation that the NHS is better value for money than the private sector, this is it.’
‘It is squandering public money and I hope the commons public accounts committee will look into it,’ he added.
