Jeremy Hunt blasts private hospitals over safety and transparency standards
2 min read
Jeremy Hunt has taken aim at private hospitals who are falling behind on safety and transparency standards.
The Health Secretary warned that private hospitals who want to work with the NHS have two weeks to “get their house in order” or face government legislation to improve standards.
His comments come after a damning Care and Quality Commission (CQC) investigation found that almost a third of private hospitals required overall improvement and that 41 per cent needed to take further steps to ensure patient safety.
In a letter to the chief executives of leading independent healthcare providers - seen by The Guardian - Mr Hunt said that private firms must take urgent action to improve their safety records and boost transparency.
"Like many of my predecessors on both sides of the political divide, I believe that the independent sector can play a useful role in adding capacity, promoting innovation and offering patients choice," he wrote.
"However, if the sector is to partner with the NHS and benefit from our world-leading medical training, we need urgent assurances that the independent sector will get its house in order on safety, as well as a commitment to take rapid action to match the NHS’s world-recognised progress on transparency."
The CQC’s primary concerns were focussed on a lack of oversight for consultants who work in private hospitals but are not formally employed there. The report also highlighted a failure to learn from mistakes, as well as poor reporting practices.
The watchdog's first in-depth analysis of independent acute hospitals awarded 62% a good rating - but 30% were deemed to be in need of improvement. While the CQC acknowledged that private hospitals were quick to act once issues were raised and that most were providing good quality care to patients, it said there was still room for significant improvement.
Whitehall sources told the paper that independent healthcare providers now have just two weeks to take action or face intervention from the Department for Health and Social Care, with ministers potentially eyeing a new package of legislation to enforce better standards.
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