The chief executive of the London NHS trust that bought the privately owned Heart Hospital has defended his decision to retain a third of the unit's 95 beds for private patients.
Robert Naylor of University College London Hospitals NHS Trust said that the purchase of the financially ailing unit, which was running at a third of its capacity, would transform cardiac services in the capital.
He added: “We haven't guaranteed anything. We have started off with the proposition that the existing consultants will want to continue to bring the same number of private patients in. The number of private cases at the hospital may well go down in the future.
“The reason we are keen to support the consultants is that there is a substantial profit to be made from private practice. That profit will go back to NHS care.”
Mr Naylor seized the opportunity to buy the Heart Hospital, just off Harley Street in London, with £27.5m ($38.5m) from the government when its owners, the Singapore based company Parkway Healthcare, ran into financial difficulties. The NHS will now take over its staff of 162, four operating theatres, and 95 beds.
Mr Naylor predicts that the trust will now more than double the number of cardiac surgery cases each year, from 750 to 1600. The transfer of services will also free up 76 beds at the nearby Middlesex Hospital, which will be used to cut waiting times for other procedures.
Alan Maynard, professor of health economics at York University, described the purchase of the hospital, which had just undergone a £63m refit, as a “bargain.”
He said: “It indicates that a lot of private hospitals are under-utilised. It's a bargain as the owners had just spent millions on a refurbishment.”
Steve Dewar, a fellow in the healthcare policy programme at the King's Fund, an independent health care charity in London, said that the purchase raised questions over how many private patients the NHS should treat.
He said: “If the NHS is able to offer some services and make a profit and at the same time reap the advantages of keeping consultant staff on site then maybe it's an acceptable route for them to take.”
Health minister Hazel Blears said the “unprecedented deal” would significantly increase capacity.”
At the time of the refurbishment the private health insurer PPP—which has part ownership of a number of independent hospitals in London—decided not to include the Heart Hospital on its list of preferred providers. Adrian Bull, medical director of PPP, said that the decision had been taken because the hospital did not have a long enough track record of patient care.
“The Heart Hospital had never had a track record of providing health care or had established systems in place for full quality assurance,” he said. “Some aspects of the accommodation were not what private paying patients would expect—for example, they had a large number of multiple bedded rooms.
“I'm not saying it was a bad hospital. We couldn't get the best provision of service and value for money at the Heart Hospital.”
A BMA spokewoman said it was good news for patients and good news for London. “The BMA believes that mixed provision in the NHS has the potential to stimulate innovation in the delivery of health services. Taking a pragmatic approach on issues such as this is the best way to help patients,” she said.