Fast-track surgery plan under threat

Ministers launched an urgent attempt to rescue a flagship health initiative today after the collapse of a deal with a private-sector provider.

The setback put a question mark over fast-track surgery centres due to open next April at three London hospitals.

They are supposed to carry out 30,000 operations a year as part of the Government's drive to reduce waiting times and extend patient choice.

But talks with healthcare group Anglo-Canadian, chosen to run the centres, fell through yesterday as ministers conceded that the deal did not represent good value for money.

The hunt was on to find a replacement-firm to fill the gap. Health Secretary-John Reid said: "There will be other people stepping in. I am confident it will not affect patients."

But the admission that the deal would have been poor value fuelled claims by critics that operations can be carried out more cheaply on the NHS than by profit-making companies.

Former health minister Frank Dobson said: "This shows that even when cherry-picking the easiest cases, these foreign firms can't do it as cheaply as the NHS. The extra funds the Government was going to pay them should be paid to NHS staff to do the work."

And Labour MP David Hinchliffe, chairman of the Commons health committee, said the breakdown of talks with Anglo-Canadian raised questions about the contracts with the other selected companies.

The Department of Health said it was in talks with several potential alternative providers and insisted that the centres would still open on time.

A spokesman said: "Anglo-Canadian have been dropped as preferred bidder for the London chain of treatment centres because their package did not represent-good value for money. The procurement process will remain on track and we are confident the treatment centres covered by this contract will be in place in accordance with the original timescale.

"No NHS patient will be inconvenienced by this move to secure better value for money for taxpayers."

The three centres will carry out joint replacement operations and ear, nose and throat surgery.

Plans for up to 80 fast-track surgery centres across Britain form a central plank of the Government's NHS reform programme. They will cost £2 billion over five years.

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