Greater private investment and partnership with the independent sector will be “essential” for the government to successfully implement its 10 year plan for health and drive down NHS wait times.
This is according to a report from the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) who are calling for a major “step change” in how the NHS works with the private sector to both unlock capital investment and to build further capacity.
It adds this must include a greater role for the independent sector in financing new premises and equipment, alongside the ongoing delivery of NHS services to increase capacity and productivity.
Strategic Council for Healthcare Infrastructure
IHPN’s report – Building Better Health has been co-authored with Future Health co-founder and former Department of Health and Social Care special adviser, Richard Sloggett.
It calls for a strategic council for healthcare infrastructure to be established to provide cross-government leadership and to accelerate efforts in bringing private investment into the NHS – including the development of new neighbourhood health services as well as building and running new services in historically “under-served” areas.
Alongside the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, IHPN is also calling for the Treasury to clarify current accounting rules to expand public-private partnerships across the NHS, noting that the current complexity is seen by many NHS leaders as a blocker to further investment.
Role of community diagnostics centres
IHPN’s report highlights a number of areas where independent healthcare providers are already investing in the development and running of new NHS services.
These include community diagnostics centres where sites are open seven days per week and up to 14 hours per day, as well as new cancer centres and research hubs where NHS patients can access cutting edge treatment and clinical trials.
With the government’s 10 Year Plan for Health committing to establish up to 300 new neighbourhood health centres, IHPN is also calling for the government to explore the creation of a neighbourhood health capital fund which would enable the NHS to raise private capital investment to develop neighbourhood health services across the country, with support from the independent sector.
David Hare, CEO of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN), (pictured) said: “As the recent 10 Year Plan for Health made painstakingly clear, the NHS’s capital regime is in desperate need of reform, with a lack of investment in services severely hampering both healthcare productivity and patients’ access to care.
“With public finances under considerable strain, it’s simply a no-brainer that much greater use of private capital is made in order to invest in new and improved NHS services.
“Independent healthcare providers have a track record in investing and delivering accessible, high-quality services for NHS patients all across the country.
“Along with our NHS colleagues we are therefore calling on the government to provide real leadership on this issue and to capitalise on the huge appetite in the sector to partner with the NHS to invest in its future – and to deliver improved access to NHS services for patients that are free at the point of use.”
Opportunity for decisive action
Richard Sloggett, founder and programme director of Future Health, said: “The government has set bold and ambitious plans for reforming the NHS and recovering core performance standards but money and capacity are tight.
“This research sets out some immediate and practical proposals for how the NHS can partner with the independent sector to unlock new capital investment and services that can deliver improvements for patients.
“The upcoming Budget is an opportunity for the government to act decisively and help put new momentum behind its NHS reform plans.”
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “Given the squeeze on public finances we believe that private investment is one of the only options for raising the capital funding the NHS needs to develop the 21st century facilities that patients expect.
“That is why we would welcome many of the recommendations in this report, including updating the Treasury’s Green Book guidance, to clarify the off–balance sheet capital investment mechanisms available to senior NHS leaders to stimulate PPPs.
“This new report shows that there is a widening consensus between the public and private sector on creating a new wave of partnerships to inject vital funding into the health service.
“We welcome the government’s commitment to considering a new PPPs model for the NHS’s neighbourhood health centres at the forthcoming Budget, but we need it go much further and promise the same to hospital trusts and other parts of the NHS.”
