THE number of NHS operations carried out in private hospitals or clinics has hit a record high, new analysis revealed today.

Data from private healthcare body Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) shows that private hospitals delivered the equivalent of 2,859 NHS procedures every working day in April — an increase of over 60 per cent compared with the same month in 2019.

It said that almost one in five NHS operations in England are carried out in private hospitals and clinics.

Overall, the independent sector is delivering 10 per cent of all NHS planned care, up from 8 per cent before the Covid-19 pandemic, the IHPN said.

The government is pushing for more patients to access treatment in private hospitals as a way to slash waiting lists. However, as Keep Our NHS Public stated earlier this month, the NHS is struggling to keep up with the increasing demand because of “austerity, years of denying funding, too few staff, too little equipment and too many outdated buildings. 

“Labour still believes that it can restore the NHS by ‘reform’ without making up the cuts in funding. Population growth, health inequalities and changes in illness patterns have increased demand for care and mean that spending in relation to health need has actually fallen despite increases in headline funding.”