Petition · past parliament

Free up NHS beds for Covid19 response by using spare private hospital capacity

Rejected 13 signatures

What the petition asks

We urge the Government to mandate the private healthcare sector to play its part by treating non-Covid19 patients. The UK has 570+ private hospitals with around 8000 beds, which already carry out some NHS operations. We call for private hospitals to pull together with the NHS in this time of crisis.
The NHS is facing the unprecedented strain of over 1,100 known cases of Covid19 (14/3/20). Talks between NHS England and private providers are already taking place. One option under discussion is sending patients to private providers for planned operations, freeing up NHS capacity for Coronavirus treatment. The Government must ensure people can still access the treatment they need and so should mandate private hospitals to work together with the NHS.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

Timeline

14 Mar 2020 Petition opened for signatures
18 Mar 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 13
Status Rejected
Rejected 18 Mar 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.