Letters

Published: 07/03/2002, Volume II2, No. 5795 Page 22 23

Dr AJ Valance-Owen's letter (14 February) defending private healthcare's safety record is typical, yet astonishing so soon after Laura Touche's needless death in a prominent private hospital.

The Touche inquest highlighted some of the failings of private acute hospitals, in any of which Ms Touche could have suffered the same fate.

The only in-house medical cover is provided by a relatively inexperienced resident medical officer. There is no team of medical and nursing specialists in the same specialised field, nor experts in other disciplines immediately available if a complication arises.

Few have intensive care units or 'crash' teams of NHS standard. Lack of, or poorly kept, records are common and single rooms have no fellow patients to call for help in an emergency.

Dr Vallance-Owen expresses 'disappointment' at your correspondent's request for evidence on the safety of private healthcare.

APROP would like to ask him for evidence that private acute hospitals are as safe as NHS hospitals.

The private sector publishes virtually no clinical data, no mortality or morbidity rates, nothing on numbers of patients transferred to NHS intensive care or long-term facilities.

It refuses to say how many intensive care units and high-dependency units of NHS standard it has, but talks glibly about its 'critical care beds'.

Some private hospitals advertise their accreditation by bodies like the King's Fund, without saying that this is for business efficiency, not clinical care. Private acute hospitals have no effective and fair complaints procedure, and unlike NHS patients, a complainant has no recourse to the ombudsman.

Peter Touche found a 'coverup' - the standard response after such a tragedy. Only because of his persistence and resources was he able to uncover the truth.

On 1 April, the National Care Standards Commission assumes responsibility for interpreting and enforcing the new standards and regulations of the Care Standards Act 2001.

Unfortunately, these have not yet been published but the healthcare industry lobby heavily influenced the final draft. It remains to be seen how much safer patients will be in private acute hospitals in future.

So far, the private sector has been excluded from the controls exerted on the NHS by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and the Commission for Health Improvement.

The prospects are not good.

John Lambie Chair Action for the Proper Regulation of Private Hospitals