A HOSPITAL boss says a cap on the number of private patients hospitals can treat is ‘no major issue’ in South Tyneside.
Hospitals with foundation trust status have a cap on the number of patients they can treat privately and how much of their income can come from the private sector.
Some NHS managers have warned that unless the limit is scrapped, they will have to send top-up patients elsewhere.
But while South Tyneside Foundation Trust has a small cap of 0.1 per cent of its total yearly income and budget, it has only received private income of 0.06 per cent as of January.
The biggest concern about the caps for some trusts was the change in the law to allow NHS patients to ‘top-up’ their state-funded care with private healthcare paid for separately.