NHS hospitals performing record numbers of private operations in ‘two-tier’ health service

Hard-up NHS hospitals are doing record numbers of private operations to stay afloat. Figures show their income from private patients rose 12% last year – with a further 10% rise forecast for the next 12 months, according to a report in the Daily Mirror newspaper. Worried doctors fear the figures reveal the Tories are creating a two-tier NHS – with those who pay gobbling up scarce resources.Under the controversial NHS shake-up, hospitals can now earn up to 50% of income from private work. A Freedom of Information request by Labour MP Gareth Thomas revealed English NHS hospitals earned £434million from