Private Healthcare Touts For Business

My local freebee newspaper has this advert for a local private hospital:

It says:

"with increasing NHS cutbacks and fewer operations being available, if you are struggling to get the treatment you need and you don't have private insurance, another option is to go private and pay for treatment yourself".

Remember "I'll cut the deficit; not the NHS"? BMI didn't get that message.

Here is the price list they give, compared to the national tariff (the payment NHS hospitals receive).

Procedure	BMI Price	NHS National Tariff	Notes
Cataract	£1,900	£741	Phacoemulsification cataract extraction and lens implant
Hip Replacement	£8,500	£5,522	Major, non-trauma, category 2, without CC
Varicose Veins Unilateral	£2,200	£1,098	Primary Unilateral Varicose Vein without CC
Inguinal Hernia	£1,900	£1,205	Inguinal Umbilical or Femoral Hernia Repairs 19 years and over without CC

It is interesting that one of the local PCTs (NHS Warwickshire) has been operating a Stop-Slow-Go policy since last October. The items on this price list are either on the Stop list (varicose veins) or on the Slow list.