If the cap no longer fits

Abstract

The 2003 Health and Social Care Act, which established foundation trusts, introduced a cap on the percentage of total income they could gain from private patients. This was set at the earnings achieved in 2002/03 financial year, and designed to stop excess future profit generation at the expense of NHS patients. Since then Monitor, the FT regulator, has been accused of taking too light a touch to a range of approaches some trusts have taken to enable private patient earnings to grow.