As a GP I know that queue jumping by private patients in the NHS goes against everything it stands for

This new research by the Independent confirms my worst fears that NHS beds are being used for private patients who can jump the queue for treatment

Under the Health & Social Care Act 2012 the cap on how much profit can be made from private patients in NHS hospitals was increased from less than 5 per cent to a dizzying 49 per cent (Alamy)

As a GP I know how fiendishly difficult it can be to get one of my seriously unwell patients admitted to an NHS hospital. Quite often the wards are overflowing and patients will have to be sent to A&E as a holding measure – something which all doctors know is wholly inappropriate place to be for a patient needing ongoing care and investigations.

I can sometimes be on a telephone for 20-30 minutes trying to find a bed for a patient and sympathising with my hospital colleagues who often literally have no space left. They are trying their best in a system that is grossly underfunded and close to collapse every day of the week. I know from speaking to GP colleagues around the country that this scenario is being played out day in day out across England.

New research from the independent King’s Fund healthy policy organisation shows NHS beds in England have halved over the past 30 years from 299,000 to 142,000. The UK had 2.6 hospital beds per 1,000 people in 2015, compared to 8.1 in Germany, 6.1 in France, 3.2 in Italy and three in Spain.

Some of this reduction has been sensible because patients no longer need to be in hospital for four weeks after hip surgery or told to rest in bed for three weeks after a heart attack. But much of this bed reduction has come about due to the absolute necessity for hospitals to balance their budgets, otherwise they will be penalised by the Department of Health for not “balancing the books”.

One of the biggest costs for a hospital is its staffing expenses, and to save significant sums closing a ward (and removing the staff) can save huge amounts. This has an obvious impact on the number of beds available.

Add to this the savage central Government cuts to social care, meaning patients cannot be discharged from hospitals to non-existent community care facilities, and the problem clearly becomes worse.

The news that NHS hospitals are now making significantly more from private patients is staggering. Under the Tory-led coalition Health & Social Care Act 2012 the cap on how much profit can be made from private patients in NHS hospitals was increased from less than 5 per cent to a dizzying 49 per cent.

This was the green light for NHS trusts to utilise their wards and space for private patients. This new research by the Independent confirms my worst fears that NHS beds are being used for private patients who can jump the queue for treatment.

It could be argued that hospitals are being forced down this route due to their huge underfunding problem, where traditionally hospitals received 4 per cent annual increases but have received an inadequate and miserly 1 per cent a year from 2009 onwards.

The fact private patients can jump the queue for treatment flies in the face of the founding ethos of the NHS – that all patients are seen as equal and treated according to need and not the ability to pay.

It is time for this Government to acknowledge the underfunding over the past 10 years, to properly care for patients. Only then will staff be able to treat patients in a timely fashion.

Billions can be found for the DUP, HS2, Trident, tax cuts to the richest in society and huge cuts to corporation tax but meaningful sums cannot be found for the NHS to care for the elderly and vulnerable in society. This speaks volumes about the priorities of this Government and it is down to us all as patients to pressurise our MPs and policymakers to ensure they adequately fund our NHS. Only then will NHS staff be able to properly do the job they were trained to do.

Dr David Wrigley is a GP in Carnforth, north Lancashire, and chair of Doctors in Unite (Medical Practitioners Union). He also sits on the BMA UK Council and writes this article in a personal capacity.