Commons health select comittee question value of private cataract units

The benefits of contracting out operations to independent sector treatment centres, such as those providing cataract treatment, are no greater than if they were done within the NHS.

That is the main conclusion of a report by the Commons health select committee into the role of ISTCs in the health service. The committee said waiting lists had fallen but this is more likely due to increased funding in public health. It believed ISTCs may not provide better value for money than NHS Treatment Centres or partnerships made with private hospitals and it criticised the DoH for making no attempt to quantify their effect systematically.