Salaried service ‘is only way to go’

By Leslie Berry

Many private doctors will find it uneconomic to continue unless they opt for a salaried service, according to one of the UK’s most experienced independent hospital bosses.

Keith Hague, who controversially pioneered the concept of wholly-employed doctors in UK private hospitals, predicted the ‘employed’ model would spread across the country.

Keith Hague is handing over the reins of the nascent Cleveland Hospital in London’s Grosvenor Place to US surgeon Mr Brian Donley (below)

He said: ‘Indeed already, despite their initial scepticism, we see some of the other providers actively considering and preparing for this.

‘Without wholly-employed status, many doctors will be forced out of business by uneconomic levels of professional indemnity costs, a trend we can already see in some disciplines elsewhere in the world.’