NHS Hospitals Urged to Expand Overseas

He added, “We would be very concerned by any moves which would see commercial ventures, which are naturally going to be important for hospitals because they need to use them to raise revenue, would simply result in the attention of the hospitals being taken away from the core purpose—to treat patients in the U.K. and instead be focused on these hospitals abroad.” David Stout, deputy chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents organizations around England, challenged the assertion that the move would take away the focus of the NHS from U.K patients, saying instead that local services could see improvement thanks to an international exchange of ideas.

Asked if the NHS could actually end up underfunded by taxation because of larger sums raised outside the country, he said, “We are not talking about completely skewing the way the health service funding comes in—this will be marginal in the scheme of a 100-billion-pound organization in the NHS.”

Shadow health minister Jamie Reed was also critical, however, of the coalition’s endeavor, saying, “At a time when staff are losing their jobs and waiting times are rising, the government’s priority should be sorting out the mess it has created in our NHS. Under David Cameron we’re seeing a rampant commercialization of the NHS. He needs to get a grip and start focusing on patients, not profits.”

The notion of extra funds coming into the country must seem extra welcome in the wake of news that a sharp drop in corporate tax receipts caused the British economy to post an unexpected July budget deficit. Bloomberg reported Tuesday that while much of the shortfall was due to the oil and gas industry, thanks in part to a shutdown of Total SA’s Elgin gas field in the North Sea after the discovery of a leak in March and also to a drop in oil prices, it was still a surprise.

The Office for National Statistics reported that the shortfall was 557 million pounds ($878 million), compared with last year’s surplus of 2.84 billion pounds. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted a median surplus of 2.2 billion pounds.

The news, coming on top of a shrinking British economy that has already cost Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne considerable support, could push him into changing his increasingly unpopular austerity plan.

British Chambers of Commerce Chief Economist David Kern said in the report, “The figure highlights the huge challenges facing the U.K. in restoring stability to its public finances. To maintain credibility, we need to persevere with spending cuts, but supplement them with forceful policies to boost growth.”

On August 15 the British magazine New Statesman reported that Osborne’s position is increasingly unpopular. Of the 20 economists who had signed onto an open letter of support in February 2010, prior to the last election, only a single one “was willing to repeat his endorsement.”