NHS hospitals will be able to raise up to half their income from private patients

The number of private patients seen and treated at NHS hospitals is set to increase substantially under the government’s proposed health reforms currently going through parliament.

An amendment introduced just before Christmas to the Health and Social Care Bill while it was being debated in the House of Lords will dramatically increase the proportion of income that foundation trusts are allowed to derive from non-NHS work.

A cap was placed on the amount of income foundation trusts are able to raise from non-NHS work when they were created in 2003. The cap was introduced because of controversy over the freedoms foundation trusts would have in deciding how their services were run compared with non-foundation trusts and is set as …