Health Services: Private Sector

(asked on 29th August 2025) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with private sector health providers on the implementation of the NHS 10 Year Plan.


Answered by
Karin Smyth Portrait
Karin Smyth
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 12th September 2025

The 10 Year Health Plan for England sets out a transformed vision for planned care by 2035, where the majority of interactions no longer take place in a hospital building, instead happening virtually, online or via neighbourhood services. Planned care will be more efficient, timely and effective and will put control in the hands of patients.

The plan builds on the Elective Reform Plan and Independent Sector Partnership Agreement, published in January, setting a clear commitment to using spare capacity in independent sector providers to treat National Health Service patients, driving choice and empowerment for more patients, and entering discussions to expand NHS provision in the most disadvantaged areas to tackle health inequalities. The Government is steadfast in its commitment to the guiding principle that the NHS will always be free at the point of use, however it would be a dereliction of duty not to use every available resource to get patients the care they need.

We have already started working with the Independent Healthcare Providers Network, the representative body for independent sector healthcare providers with over 100 members, to ensure independent healthcare providers can fully support the Government’s objectives to both bring down the electives waiting list, and to return the NHS to the constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by March 2029.

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