Public to private? Changing face of hospital services

Private companies are increasingly involved in providing a range of services in the hospital sector – in the medical sphere and in areas like catering and cleaning. Contracting out services to private operators is seen as one way to cut hospital waiting lists and manage budgets. A new report from Eurofound, Delivering hospital services: A greater role for the private sector? examines the impact of private sector involvement in hospitals in terms of quality, efficiency and accessibility of services. The report finds that private providers complement rather than replace the services provided by the public sector. It concludes that an optimal approach would involve a more structured relationship between public and private hospitals rather than opting for on-the-spot contracting. This could reduce the tendency to select more profitable patients and to refer unscheduled complex cases to public hospitals.