Labour politicians urge Executive to use private beds to cut NHS

Labour politicians yesterday called for the NHS to move into extra space at the HCI International Medical Centre in Clydebank, increasing the pressure on the Scottish Executive to follow Westminster's lead and ditch its opposition to making greater use of private hospitals.

The call by local Labour politicians to make use of almost 500 empty beds and 15 vacant theatres at HCI will come as an embarrassment to the Scottish Executive as it struggles to maintain its position that, unlike England, Scotland has no plans to increase the use of private hospitals to cut waiting lists.

But Labour politicians in Clydebank are frustrated watching Liverpool patients being treated at the hospital while their constituents languish on waiting lists. They are also angry that clinics at the nearby Beatson Oncology Centre will need to be cancelled while cancer patients could be treated less than six miles away at HCI.

Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank, said: "I think that if the NHS requires additional high-class facilities then we should look at not just paying for treatment but taking over part of HCI and running it under the health service management. If it would assist in bringing health waiting lists under control then it is a good idea. I would be keen and everybody else would be keen that this is done within the framework of the NHS.

"I would be concerned if we had loads of patients coming from outside Scotland for treatment here because the Scottish health service wasn't using the facilities at HCI."

His comments were backed by Tony Worthington, Labour MP for Clydebank and Milngavie. Worthington is disappointed that HCI is not being put to greater use to treat Scottish cancer patients while the problems are sorted out at the Beatson Oncology Centre. He cannot understand why the Scottish health service does not take over one of the floors at HCI and send in NHS doctors and nurses to treat NHS patients.

He said: "I think the NHS should be situated in HCI and using the resources. If we look at the situation at the Beatson there is capacity at HCI that could be used. People could be getting a better service at HCI than with the NHS. There is a linear accelerator [to administer radiotherapy treatment] there and the hospital would be very willing to invest in another one. I think it's amazing that HCI has not been used more."

On Tuesday England's department of health announced a deal with Bupa to turn one of its hospitals in southeast England into a centre exclusively servicing the NHS, a move which will create capacity for an extra 5000 operations a year for patients not paying for their treatment. Milburn's department plans 20 such fast-track diagnostic treatment centres over the next few years.

The Scottish Executive insists that it does use private hospitals when it needs them but has no plans to follow the English example of extending this use in a drive to cut waiting times. Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm insists there is little space in the private sector available north of the Border and that the Executive has no plans to change its policy of allowing local health boards to send patients to private hospitals on a small-scale, ad hoc basis when the need arises.

But while English health authorities are told to send patients to private hospitals if they have been waiting for more than six months for treatment, Scottish health boards are still reluctant to admit they are making use of private hospitals.

The Sunday Herald has learned that Bupa's Murrayfield hospital in Edinburgh has been in discussions with hospitals in Lothian and Forth Valley to help cut waiting lists for orthopaedic and general surgery.

But while a spokeswoman from NHS Lothian confirmed on Friday morning that the discussions were taking place, the health board later tried to distance itself from the negotiations and refused to disclose further information.

Gair Stott, general manager at Murrayfield Hospital, said Bupa had been involved in discussions with NHS Lothian and had been approached recently by Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust.

He said: "We have had discussions with both Lothian and Forth Valley over the last four months about helping out with waiting list initiatives. In the last two weeks we have been contacted by Lothian Hospitals NHS Trust about moving this forward."

Fiona Mackenzie, chief executive of Forth Valley NHS Board, confirmed that the board is planning waiting list initiatives with the private sector but said this was not just with Bupa Murrayfield.

Mary Scanlon, Scottish Conservative health spokeswoman, last night called on the Scottish Executive to make its position on the use of private hospitals clear.

She said: "The situation for the Scottish Executive is now untenable. Jack McConnell has said that he will work with the private sector, we have Tony Blair and Alan Milburn signing concordats so that NHS patients can be treated in the private sector and we have Malcolm Chisholm who is supporting the trade unions' position of insisting on a state monopoly."

HCI last night declined to make any official comment about discussions with the Executive for the NHS to take over spare floors at the complex but a hospital source indicated that a major public- private partnership would be welcome.

A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said: "Although the theatre space and beds could be used, staff would still be needed to carry out the procedures. The staff would need to be recruited from the NHS which could leave gaps in other areas. We do have an open mind to the use of the private sector but the priority has to be to reduce waiting times within the NHS."

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