Leeds Health Chiefs plan to privatise fertility services
A paper on the plans has been seen by Leeds City Councillors
Councillors in Leeds have heard plans from health chiefs who want to contract out fertility treatment to private companies.
It followed a paper which was put to Leeds City Councillors revealing that The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust wants to “explore and test the market” for ways to expand its fertility service.
But one Labour councillor said she did not understand what there was to be gained from privatising part of a service that is already working well, adding that allowing businesses to make profit from healthcare was ‘not what the NHS should be about’ .
It stated that, although the trust wanted services to remain at its Seacroft Hospital site, it planned to tender services for a period of 10 years.
Dr Kelly Cohen, the trust’s clinical director for women’s services, told the meeting: “What’s come back from patient surveys is that they are overwhelmingly positive about the services we already provide, but we fall down on NHS things, like environment, digital maturity and communication.
“They are all things we feel would be improved collaborating with a commercial provider. We want to keep our staff on the same site and have that seamless integration. We don’t anticipate any change on what patients experience.”
But Coun Christine Knight (Lab) responded: “The service is already valued and respected, so I’m not sure what we will gain by privatising one aspect of it.
“I would like to know more about the contract the NHS will have with this company – I am assuming the NHS will pay this company a fee for its service – I would like to know what that fee will be.
“Will that company be able to reject any patients it wishes not to take – what happens if the service still isn’t competitive? What will this private company do then?
“They will be looking to make a profit, which is not really what the NHS should be about.”
A representative of the hospital trust James Goodyear, said: “We want to explore this potential to work with a commercial collaborator to give us certainty over the sustainability and quality of the service in the face of a changing, competitive environment.
“The income both NHS and private from IVF service, contributes to medicine services overall, so it is important that we maintain the same or increased levels of activity at Seacroft Hospital.
“With private providers setting up in the city, the risk is the number of patients that come to Seacroft will reduce over time and members of staff may go to work for those private providers.”
He added that the private provider would in fact pay the trust to take on the work, rather than the other way round.
Clare Goodman, the trust’s general manager for women’s services, added: “We would expect the staff directly involved in providing the scientific element of IVF care would be toupeed (have their contracts transferred to another employer) if we went down this route.
“There are a number of members of staff whose jobs cross, and those members of staff, we would have to assess their contracts to see if they remain with Leeds Teaching Hospitals or are moved to a new provider.”
The board asked for a “written update” as to the state of market testing in the coming months.