Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of private healthcare providers using NHS hospital facilities on NHS waiting lists.

No specific assessment has been made as these decisions are taken locally. National Health Service trusts can utilise ‘insourcers’, private healthcare providers who operate using NHS facilities, but services must be arranged in a manner which offers value for money compared to the other options available.

NHS England published updated guidance on the use of insourcing in July 2024 to support NHS trusts in achieving value for money. This guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/guidance-for-trusts-on-the-use-of-insourcing/#

In this guidance, NHS England clearly prohibits the use of insourcing solutions where rates are not in line with, or are below, the prices in the NHS Payment Scheme, and where compliant approved frameworks are not used.