Starting in October, National Health Service (NHS) foundation trust hospitals in England will be able to earn up to 49 percent of their profits from private patients, an increase established under the Health and Social Care Act, the NHS reform law. Previously, the cap for the amount an NHS hospital could earn from private patients varied across the country and by practice, with some hospitals capped at earning less than 2 percent from private patients. While some worry that these changes represent a privatization of the NHS, the government has assured citizens that hospitals still have an obligation to provide NHS services.
Source:
- http://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e4823?etoc (subscription required)