Private hospitals face tough year as PMI income falls

It faces stagnant funding and the likely referral of its market to the Competition Commission following a review by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The analyst also claimed the market now holds an excess capacity and competition from NHS private patient units. Laing and Buisson's Healthcare Market Review revealed revenues for private hospitals generated in 2010 were static at £3.84bn. However, spending by private medical insurance (PMI) providers continued to fall and accounted for only 59% of the total (£2.3bn), compared to 65% in 2005. This was highlighted by Bupa's recent d...