Independent Healthcare Providers Network: Quality and safety in the independent healthcare sector 2024

Summary

The Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN), which represents independent providers delivering both NHS and privately funded care, have conducted research looking at a broad range of official datasets to evaluate quality and safety in key areas across independent healthcare.

Content

Part of this includes looking at patient access to timely healthcare which is increasingly being seen as an issue of quality given its profound impact on patients’ lives. While the volume of NHS activity carried out by independent providers has increased in recent years – with 1/5 of all NHS operations now delivered in the sector – waiting times remain considerably lower at independent providers compared to their NHS peers.

Overall, 275 people are waiting at independent providers per 100 people treated each month, compared with over 500 people waiting for every 100 receiving treatment in the NHS. Swift access to NHS care in the independent sector can be seen most clearly in ophthalmology, where the average waiting time in an independent provider is just 8 weeks, compared to around 21 weeks at NHS providers.

New analysis also shows that patients treated in independent providers are themselves reporting high quality outcomes. The NHS’ latest Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMS) data shows over half of the top 10 providers for both hip and knee adjusted health gain are from the independent sector, with PROMS data showing 98% of private patients reporting their conditions improved after a hip replacement, and 93% for knee replacements.

IHPN’s report also notes the work the sector doing to help support and empower its staff to drive through improvements in patient safety and develop a culture of openness and learning, including:

• Increasing the numbers of Freedom to Speak Up Guardians in the sector by 50% in the last year to over 500 in total.
• Establishing new Patient Safety Specialists which are a requirement for all organisations delivering NHS-funded care with almost one third of all PSSs in the health service now found in the sector.