Private hospitals increasingly dependent on NHS - Laing & Buisson

Overall the sector bucked the recession with a 7.5% rise in sales to £3.76bn in 2009 but its reliance on NHS services grew almost four-fold over the previous two years. Twenty-two per cent of mainstream independent hospital activity was paid by the NHS (212,200 cases, 21.8% of total) in 2009, compared with just 6% in 2007 (55900 cases). Meanwhile, the market analyst's Healthcare Market Review 2010-11, reveals traditional private healthcare funded by medical insurance and from patients' own pockets remained in the doldrums as the recession bit. In 2009 private medical insurance cont...