Private surgery plan unveiled

NHS patients who have waited more than six months for an operation will shortly be able to get treatment in a private hospital, under radical plans announced today by the Government.

Patients in London will be the first to benefit from April of next year, with some 45,000 people who have waited the longest - facing a 12-month queue for surgery - eligible for free treatment in a private hospital, Health Secretary Alan Milburn is announcing today.

This will gradually be extended nationwide to meet the Government's pledge that no-one will have to wait more than six months for an operation by 2004.

Relatives will also be able to stay in nearby hotels if the private hospital is far from home.

Tony Blair will face union accusations that he is privatising the NHS through the back door, but the Government is adamant that the only way to reform the health service is to use different providers to cut down waits.

But hospitals with long waiting lists whose patients go elsewhere for treatment would end up losing money, making it harder for them to keep the staff they need.