UK PRIVATE HOSPITALS SUFFER AS NHS BRINGS WORK BACK IN HOUSE

Financial Times - There are empty beds at Ramsay Healthcare’s Fitzwilliam hospital in Peterborough, a commuter city a couple of hours north of London. Like most UK private hospitals, the Fitzwilliam specialises in routine surgical procedures such as hip and knee replacements, cataract removal and hernia repair, with much of this work referred from the state-funded National Health Service. But NHS referrals fell 12.8 per cent in the year to March 31, putting pressure on the Australian private healthcare company, which earns 80 per cent of sales in this way. The picture is repeated across the country, as the £5.78bn private hospital market feels the effects of NHS cuts and a relaxation of the rules on patient waiting times...>>>