The Department of Health has signed a deal for care home giant Care UK to provide tests and out-patient treatments including injections and physiotherapy for 80,000 people across Greater Manchester every year.
The deal is estimated to be worth in the region of £130m but officials are refusing to confirm the cost, saying the information is commercially sensitive.
Greater Manchester's 10 primary care trusts will pay for the treatment, carried out at mobile units outside town halls and leisure centres every year in a bid to drive down waiting times.
Government officials have previously said they plan to spend £385m on 1.5 million procedures through three such schemes - known as Clinical Assessment and Treatment Services - Cats. This expenditure includes the Greater Manchester deal. The British Medical Association, which represents doctors, is putting pressure on regional health bosses to reveal the costs.
Mobile units
Dr Atef El-Kholy, an ear, nose and throat surgeon at Trafford General, says the services aren't needed.
He says they see emergency cases within 24 hours and everyone has a diagnostic appointment within six weeks with surgery within 10 weeks of seeing their GP.
The deal will see around 80,000 diagnosed with orthopaedic, rheumatology, general surgery, ear nose and throat, gynaecology and urology problems referred to Care UK from December.
Patients will have tests and minor treatment in mobile units which will travel around Bolton Gate, Earl Mill in Oldham, Regent Road in Salford, West End Working Mens Club in Denton, Hyde Road in Longsight, Stretford Leisure Centre and Rochdale Town Hall.
Mike Farrar, chief executive of NHS North West said: "We want to bring down waiting times for people who need NHS treatment even further."
Mike Parish, chief executive of Care UK said: "We will provide convenient, high quality services for NHS patients."
A Department of Health spokesman said: "We are unable to comment on the value of the Greater Manchester contract as procurement for some contracts is still ongoing."
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Here we go - privatisation of the nhs by stealth. Where was the public consultation on this contract? Nhs services free at the point of contact - but costing a fortune to the taxpayer. The only folk who will benefit from this sort of contract are the private companies involved and the nhs managers whos careers will be enhanced by ticking the right department of health boxes. Public don't be conned, they are selling your nhs services the same way they sold public transport, utlities etc and we all know how much they have 'improved' don't we?
Shame on those nhs clinicians (gp's included) who are collaberating with these services, you are selling OUR nhs.
Im sorry to keep on saying the same thing over again.our NHS is being swamped yes swamped by foreign nationals using our health system for their families and freinds from overseas (Comming for a holiday and at the same time getting healthcare)for free along with asylem seekers with massive health problems a lot of them long terms Our health system wasnt designed for these people it was paid for and designed for the british workers who paid massive amounts into the system.but people who just walk into britain with their dependants and demand help is killing our NHS system the average british family has two children the average african family has upwards of seven or eight children and this puts massive pressure on our baby units...Outcome of all this pressure will be the downfall of our free NHS..the truth.
Whatever it costs ,it's money not being directed to Hospitals already struggling to survive..
what will the nhs look like 5 or 10 years from now?
Most services will be contracted out to private or other '3rd sector' providers.
Therefore the nhs will not directly employ many staff.
The whole NHS budget will be managed by private sector 'commissioners' who will do this on behalf of the good folk of england.
GP's will be salaried by large corperations in 'polyclinics'.
Once this is in place, charges will start to come into play for anything other than basic treatments.(see dentistry for details)(means tested of course-so if you work you pay)
It will all work quite well as long as YOU are relatively healthy- just don't become too ill (and therefore expensive).
please, someone tell me i'm wrong!
i agree with herr prentler. there are many similarities here with the transport issue where we were told that bringing in the private sector would improve things. then when this obviously didnt work (except on a few key rail+bus routes)we are told that we need to be taxed further (congestion charge) to give further money to the private sector so that they can improve things again (which of course means they actually make more profit and dont improve things). So the same thing will happen in the nhs, mr farrar promises a better service by bringing in the private sector at huge expense, things will only improve for a few key and easy services,then they will tell us we have to be taxed more in order that things can improve for other services. any public scrutiny is denied with the commercially sensative excuse.
ace "the average british family has two children the average african family has upwards of seven or eight children". Where did you read this.