PPUs victim of NHS pandemic pressure

This report on the second NHS PPU Barometer provides an exclusive snapshot of performance and provides valuable insights into the sector following the impact of Covid-19. Philip Housden gives the highlights.

The NHS PPU Barometer is a unique measure of trading performance and of the confidence levels of the management teams of NHS trusts’ private patient services. It was completed as an online survey by 26 trusts in September 2020.

These trusts accounted for approximately £341m revenue in 2019-20, which is 50% of the total NHS PPU market. Both these values are up from £219m of revenues and 33.4% of the market in Housden Group’s first survey. 

The 26 trusts delivered growth of £10m and 3.0% last year, slightly down on the overall market growth estimated at 3.4% and lower than the average in recent years of 5%, the reduction due to the impact of Covid-19 in early 2020. 

Given the dramatic impact of the pandemic on the NHS and its capacity, the Barometer first asked: ‘What is your trust’s overall view at the moment with regards to treating patients privately, now or in the near future?’