Private Patients in N.H.S. Hospitals: Waiting Lists and Subsidies

Anthony Culyer and J. G. Cullis
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J. G. Cullis: University of York

Chapter 7 in The Economics of Health and Medical Care, 1974, pp 108-116 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Private practice by National Health Service (N.H.S.) consultants in its hospitals is alleged both to inflate the lists of those (N.H.S. patients) waiting for admission as inpatients and to involve substantial transfers that internalize no externality and that are, moreover, regressive. This paper shows that, on certain assumptions, the short-term effects of removing private practice in N.H.S. hospitals include only minor (positive or negative) effects on waiting lists. In the longer run, if private hospitals can provide sufficient substitute care and of other inputs (such as consultant time in the N.H.S.) do not fall and inpatient referrals do not rise faster than the trend, then substantial reductions may be gained. The paper also shows that the present structure of charges does not cover the full costs of care and that net transfers to private patients may take place, even allowing for the tax price paid by such patients.

Keywords: Capital Cost; Private Practice; Occupancy Rate; Capital Expenditure; Private Patient (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1974
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DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-63660-0_7

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