Privatisation of NHS services causes a rise in deaths from treatable illness, research has found.
The study of 173 of England’s clinical commissioning groups found an annual rise in outsource spending of 1% was linked to a rise in “treatable deaths” of 0.38% the following year.
This worked out at around one extra death for every 300,000 of population.
Cat Hobbs, of We Own It, which campaigns against privatisation, said: “Privatisation in our NHS is not just inefficient and wasteful, it’s literally killing people. It’s time to reinstate our NHS as a fully public service.”
Treatable deaths are those from conditions caused by avoidable medical reasons and include some forms of cancer.
Around £1 of every £20 of taxpayers’ money spent on the NHS now goes directly to a profit-making company due to reforms brought in by Tory Health Secretary Andrew Lansley in 2012.
Mr Lansley ushered in an era of “competition” between providers of care. Benjamin Goodair, co-author of the Oxford University research, said: “The results suggest privatisation of healthcare is corresponding with worse quality care.”
