Large income gaps means room to unite

This month’s financial tour of private patient units (PPUs) by Philip Housden analyses private patient revenue growth for ten NHS acute trusts across the East Midlands counties of Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.

Figures from the most recently published annual accounts for this group of trusts show that total private patient revenues were flat in 2016-17 after a period of growth.

Figure 1

Total revenues were £11.9m in 2016-17, up from £10m in 2014-15, a growth of 18.6% (see Figure 1, right).

This now represents 0.31% of these trusts total revenues, essentially a flat figure for the last few years.

This is below the combined national average outside of London of 0.5%.

These ten acute trusts can be divided into three groups based on analysis of private patient revenues, growth and size (Figure 2):