DAUK has called for urgent government action to stop the harmful effects caused by outsourcing of NHS services to private providers. A report showing this, published in the Lancet, was also quoted in the Guardian.
NHS outsourcing grew from 3.9% to more than 6.4% between 2013 and 2020. In total, £11.5bn was handed to private companies over the period.
The analysis shows that an annual increase in outsource spending of 1% is associated with a rise in treatable mortality of 0.38% – or 0.29 deaths per 100,000 people – the following year.
“Given the scale of the backlog and proposed solutions involving the use of the private sector, this data highlighting the risk to patient safety must result in the government looking at the regulation of this sector urgently.”
