NHS PRIVATISATION AND MUSGROVE PARK HOSPITAL AND VANGUARD

That this House notes with gravest concern that Musgrove Park Hospital, part of Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, was forced to terminate the contract for cataract surgery with private provider Vanguard after more than half the 62 patients who underwent surgery reported serious complications; further notes that Vanguard was contracted to operate on 400 patients but the already over-burdened NHS team at Musgrove had to do this; further notes that an internal report into Vanguard's failings exposed a complex chain of sub-contracting, with three companies, Vanguard, The Practice plc and Kestrel, providing various elements of the ophthalmic service with an unspecific contract; further notes that failings were widespread and various in a very short space of time; further notes that the 2013 Care Quality Commission (CQC) report on Vanguard revealed lightweight consideration of safety issues and that the CQC could not inspect any patient records because Vanguard operated from mobile units; believes that consent forms given to patients in private hospitals should detail not only risks inherent in the procedure but also any stemming from the facilities or staffing of the hospital; further believes that the Department of Health should carry out a review of the cost of NHS admissions from private hospitals and the NHS should have the power to recoup costs resulting from a failure by a private hospital; and calls on the Secretary of State for Health to ensure that patients receive the highest standards of care in private hospitals.