This report analyses the contractual mechanisms of NHSE’s £2bn+ deal with the private hospital sector during COVID, building on our 2021 report ‘For Whose Benefit’ using newly obtained activity data and the contracts themselves.

This analysis maps the network of joint venture businesses between NHS medical consultants and private healthcare companies, building on the CHPI’s 2019 report ‘Pounds for Patients’ which looked at financial incentives and conflicts of interest in the UK’s private healthcare system.

This report analyses the government’s use of the private hospital sector to alleviate the burden on the NHS during the first year of the COVID pandemic.

This report raises questions about the capacity of the NHS to handle the increasing outsourcing of its services to the private sector and its ability to ensure that services provided by the private sector under contract with the NHS are safe, effective and value for money.

This report analyses the financing structure of the new Private Finance 2 scheme and finds that it is likely to increase costs to the NHS. Restructuring the balance of debt and risk capital would increase the rate of return to private investors by 15% compared to the original Private Finance Initiative.