Specialist trust now providing a fifth of all NHS private patient work

The Royal Marsden FT made £121m through its private patient units in 2018-19, representing more than a quarter of its total income. The figure was up from £104m the previous year, representing a 16 per cent rise. The Marsden now accounts for 18 per cent of all private healthcare carried out by NHS organisations.

Nationally, NHS providers received £659m from private patients, up from £623 last year, according to consolidated accounts data. The NHS market for private patients has grown steadily in recent years, but remains dominated by providers in London. Fifty-three per cent of private patient revenues were accounted for by just seven specialist and acute trusts within the capital (see table below).

The Royal Marsden, which has hospitals in Chelsea and Sutton, said in a statement: “The growth in private care over the past financial year is largely due to increased capacity and efficiencies within the service, for example enabling seven-day working in some services and an enhancement in services around imaging and robotic surgery which have led to increased patient numbers for both NHS and private patients.

“The integrated model at The Royal Marsden allows us to reinvest all of the income from private care into the hospital.”

The trust’s annual report said it plans to open a new private care facility in central London in 2020, to provide further capacity across a number of tumour types.

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children FT increased its private patient income by £5m, to £62m.

Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals FT, in Essex, more than doubled its income to £6.6m. The rise came after the trust took over a unit previously run by a private provider.

The biggest reductions came at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust and North Bristol Trust, where income was down by £2.4m and £1.8m respectively.

Trusts that had the biggest growth in income from private patients