Patient Safety in Private Hospitals
The Centre has long been concerned about systemic patient safety risks in the private hospital sector in the UK.
These risks are mainly down to the business model operated by the private hospital sector which means that the way care is provided in private hospitals is very different to the care in an NHS hospital.
We have undertaken numerous reports into this area which have helped to inform policy makers and regulators about how to address these risks.
Our reports were used by Coroner’s inquests into the death of a patients who died following treatment in a private hospital.
We were also asked to provide evidence on this subject to the official Inquiry into the Ian Paterson scandal – one of the biggest patient safety scandals in UK medical history.
Solutions
The legislation governing private hospitals should be amended to make clear that all hospitals registered with the CQC should be fully liable for all the services which are provided within them, including the actions of surgeons and other healthcare professionals.
Private hospitals should be required to adhere to the same reporting requirements as NHS hospitals in order to improve the chance of harm to patients being detected
Private hospital companies must end the reliance on a single junior doctor (a Resident Medical Officer), working alone on extreme shift patterns, to provide postoperative care for patients.
Private hospitals will not be truly safe unless they have adequate facilities to deal with situations where a patient’s life becomes endangered following an operation and where the hazardous transfer patients to NHS hospitals ceases.
Private Hospital companies should directly employ the surgeons, anaesthetists and physicians who work at their hospitals and should take responsibility for monitoring their activities and appraising their performance.
Key Facts
168 hours – the typical weekly shift of a Resident Medical Officer in a private hospital.
£250m – the estimated cost to the NHS of treating patients who have been transferred from private hospitals.
104 – the number of patients who died following a transfer from a private hospital to an NHS hospital between 2011/12 and 2016/17
Reports on Patient Safety in Private Hospitals
Blogs on Patient Safety in Private Hospitals
Our impact in the media on Patient Safety in Private Hospitals
David Rowland on patient safety risks in private hospitals on BBC Panorama, April 2024.
CHPI’s Colin Leys discusses systemic patient safety risks in private hospitals on BBC News Northwest.
David Rowland responds to the Paterson Inquiry report's release on ITV News.
David Rowland interviewed on LBC about Spire's recall of a further 1,000 lan Paterson patients.