In this report, we look at the less-than-expected growth in NHS treatment of private patients since the 2012 Health and Social Care Act, and consider whether the practice has been an effective means of generating additional revenues, and how it might impact on the availability of care for NHS patients.

The financial assumptions underpinning the Government's plans to close the NHS's 30-billion-pound funding gap by 2020/21 are unrealistic and are likely to lead to a decline in the quality of and access to healthcare for patients. Subsequently there is a growing risk that that some vital services will collapse.

Transforming Services Together (TST) is a five-year plan to radically reconfigure health services in the London boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.

This analysis looks at:

1. Why is the STF not sufficient to eliminate the providers’ deficit in 2016/17?

2. What are the implications for providers who accept the funding, and for the NHS in general?