Circle eyes £8bn NHS opportunity

Circle, the first private healthcare provider to manage an NHS trust, has drawn up proposals which it estimates could make the firm more than £8bn from other failing trusts.

In a presentation given to investors before it took over the management of Hinchingbrooke Hospital, it highlighted a number of other money-making opportunities in the NHS.

The document identified 32 trusts it viewed as “NHS growth opportunities” including Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust, NHS Isle of Wight and Barts and the London Trust.

Investors were told how “Circle is well positioned to win new contracts” and how there were “attractive returns on capital invested”.

Delegates at the Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference in New York were also told that St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals Trust was “publicly acknowledged to be a possible contract.”

A spokesperson for Circle said it was well known there were a number of struggling trusts across England and that its business model “would make us a good strategic partner for many of them”.

“Circle’s partnership model and entrepreneurial drive offers an alternative to cuts and closure for struggling NHS hospitals across the country,” said the spokesperson. “We should be allowed to do more.”

Since the presentation, a number of the 32 trusts outlined in the document have gone on to merge or gain foundation trust status.

When Circle took over Hinchingbrooke it agreed to take on the hospital’s £40m debt and, in return, to take the first £2m profit, 25% of the next £4m and 33% of the next £4m. It has since said it has improved performance in the NHS hospital’s A&E and colorectal departments, as well as making £1.1m cost savings.