Name: Comparing private and public surgery models in the UK
Uploaded: 2025-11-12T08:34:05.705Z
Duration: 2 min 5 s
Description: As some Canadian provinces outsource certain surgeries to for-profit clinics, new research comparing the models in England and Scotland suggests shifting to private clinics can lead to longer wait times, reduced hospital capacity and increased inequality to access to care.

As some Canadian provinces outsource certain surgeries to for-profit clinics, new research comparing the models in England and Scotland suggests shifting to private clinics can lead to longer wait times, reduced hospital capacity and increased inequality to access to care.

Toronto

Two new academic reports have compared the approaches of Scotland and England in reducing surgical wait times, with England opting for privatization and Scotland expanding its public system. Over 22 years, data show that while both countries doubled the number of surgeries, wait times are shorter in Scotland, where only 2% of cataract surgeries are done in for-profit clinics compared to 60% in England.

The reports indicate that privatization in England led to longer wait times, reduced hospital capacity for certain surgeries, and increased inequality in access to care. The findings raise questions about the potential impact of similar models in other countries, such as Canada, as healthcare systems consider balancing public and private resources.

Comparing private and public surgery models in the UK

I just want you to look straight at the lights for me if you can. Two new academic reports are out comparing Scotland's You will see your consultant to every visit. and England's approaches to reducing wait times for surgeries. We have in a way a natural experiment taking place with England deciding to pursue privatization of services and Scotland deciding not to do that. England began outsourcing hip, knee and cataract surgeries to private for-profit clinics in the 1980s while Scotland expanded surgeries in the public system by acquiring a private hospital. Now 22 years of data suggest 60% of taxpayer-funded cataract surgeries in England are done in for-profit clinics. In Scotland it's just 2%. Both countries doubled the number of surgeries and wait times are shorter in Scotland than in England. But the shift negatively affected English hospitals. What we found was that far from helping the public sector the public sector froze as money flowed out of the system into the private hospitals. The report suggests the private route overall led to longer wait times for all patients lowered the capacity of hospitals to do certain surgeries and increased inequality in accessing care. I guess the question is can we extrapolate those findings to Canadians? Surgeons who welcome for-profit clinics say systems need to strike a balance. I think it's something to keep in mind as we open these centers that we don't deplete the existing human resources from hospitals where there's good work being done. Others argue the evidence is clear. Scotland in contrast actually improved wait times across the entire population so that's a really important lesson for us. All doctors say quicker access to surgeries is a must but as provinces spend more taxpayer dollars in for-profit clinics Scotland and England's experience may offer a glimpse of what's ahead. Christine Birak, CBC News, Toronto.

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