Wow, really thought the hospitals were completely divided between public and private. Didn't realize the NHS is so underfunded it also services private insurance, giving first priority to patients who can pay. Doesn't that piss people off? Hasn't everyone already paid?
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nhs-hospitals-performing-private-operations-2286913
The Mirror is a tabloid newspaper that supports Labour. The Sun is another tabloid but shows favouritism to The Conservatives.
None of the tabloids are credible. The Mirror has an agenda to persuade the public to vote Labour at the next election. It is trying to anger the British public. There may be a tiny element of truth in the story but most of the story is not official. The only official quote they have is kind of contradictory to their story
But a Department of Health spokeswoman said: “These figures need to be put in context. The private income quoted is less than 0.5% of the NHS budget for 2013/14.
“This income must be reinvested back into NHS services and patients will benefit from increased investment in facilities and new technology.
"The Health and Social Care Act ensures that services for NHS patients will always come first and that the responsibility of any NHS organisation is to provide NHS services and any private work is supplementary.
“Any patient should be seen in order of clinical priority. Average waiting times are low and stable, and the number of patients waiting longer than 18 weeks is nearly 55,000 lower than in May 2010.”
If you look at one of their shocking statements "Under the controversial NHS shake-up, hospitals
can now earn up to 50% of income from private work." Note how they say 'can'.
and
"He said there was
growing evidence that patients are being forced to go private because they are being turned away from the NHS or spending so long on waiting lists."
It is a cleverly worded article but the 'growing evidence' is not included.
"Dr Clive Peedell, co-leader of the National Health Action Party, said lifting the cap on private treatments
would see a rise in waiting NHS lists." even this man who is a co-leader of the National Health Action Party only states the the would be consequences. BTW the National Health Action Party is just a micky mouse group of people with no official status.
In a nutshell, the tabloid press are notorious for political bias, gossip, hearsay tittle-tattle. I include the Daily Mail in that list although it believes it is above the tabloids. It's not.
There are a few credible papers, and the aptly named 'Independent' would be my paper of choice if i wanted truth.