NON-NHS PROVIDERS - Private companies behave differently from NHS providers

摘要

Appleby states that "if rates of [average?] growth... continue overthe next 20 years... non-NHS providers could account for one in five of all outpatient attendances." This is a surprising interpretation of the data, If the trend as shown continues, non-NHS providers would account for 20% of the total within five, not 20, years. Would this matter? It would be interesting to know the health and transactional costs to patients and to the NHS from a recent "unmitigated disaster": the Nottingham privatisation experiment. After the hospital's renowned dermatology unit was privatised, emergency, outpatient, and in patient services were fragmented and the whole service— togetherwith education, training, and research at the hospital—has collapsed, with considerable disruption and displacement of patients. "Destructive innovation" or just destruction?