Call for private and public care sectors to co-operate
Private healthcare providers have welcomed a recommendation by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch for new NHS Integrated Care Systems to fully utilise local independent healthcare provision.
Independent Healthcare Providers Network chief executive David Hare said: ‘This is something IHPN have long been calling for and which will ensure the NHS and independent sector can work together to improve patient access to high quality care in the months and years to come.’
Last year’s agreement between both sectors resulted in the independent providers delivering over 3.2m NHS procedures including 160,000 life-saving cancer and cardiology treatments.
The partnership has been praised by NHS England’s chief executive Amanda Pritchard as making a ‘critical’ contribution in ensuring that vital non-Covid NHS treatment went ahead throughout the pandemic.
IHPN says with independent healthcare providers continuing to play a key role in supporting the NHS to clear the elective care backlog, it was vital that the health service and independent sector could continue to work seamlessly together to deliver the safest possible care.
The network has called for NHS hospitals to act urgently on recent NHS England guidance to maximise the use of independent sector capacity.
A spokesman said: ‘With a tough winter just around the corner and a mammoth challenge ahead in recovering NHS services, patients need to be assured that all available staffed capacity – including in the independent sector – is utilised to get them treated.’