By . Daniel Martin . Clive Peedell, English doctor specialising in clinical oncology. He claims the 'bribes' are 'outrageous' Bupa has been accused of ‘bribing’ its patients with up to £2,000 to use the NHS rather than private hospitals. The medical insurer offers financial incentives to those who agree to have heart, cancer or gynaecological surgery in Health Service hospitals. One campaigner said Bupa was ‘dumping’ these patients on the NHS because the procedures they need are the most expensive – meaning the company can save money and accumulate higher profits. The firm denied this, saying the money given out in the ‘NHS cash benefit’ offer was  simply a rebate because the patients were not accessing the private care their health insurance policies could provide. But Labour said the company was simply putting increased pressure on the Health Service, which was already overburdened. The party’s health spokesman, Andrew Gwynne, called on the Government to hold a probe into the impact of BUPA’s payments. He said: ‘To many people, these payments will feel like bribes. ‘Private companies are increasingly cherry-picking patients and treatments they consider lucrative, leaving the NHS to pick up the bill for the most difficult services.’ John Lister, of pressure group Health Emergency, said private healthcare firms were ‘milking the NHS’. ‘The operations they are offering to pay people to have on the NHS are the ones they are least equipped to deal with … Bupa has realised these operations are the most expensive and are now dumping these patients on the NHS,’ he said. ‘NHS hospitals are already struggling to cope with less staff and fewer resources. The burden of extra patients needing complex operations will cause significant problems … it’s scandalous.’ Bupa has been accused of dumping patients on the NHS so they can avoid the most expensive surgeries . The controversial offer was revealed in a letter from Bupa to a cardiac patient, which said the payment of between £500 and £2,000 ‘takes the place of private treatment funding’. Dr Louise Irvine, a GP in south-east London, said: ‘The NHS is effectively subsidising the private sector because these private health insurers can charge a smaller premium in the knowledge the NHS is there to deal with anything complex and costly.’ Dr Clive Peedell, co-leader of the National Health Action Party, said: ‘This is an outrageous example of how the private healthcare sector is happy to take patients’ money but then turns to the NHS when it realises it can’t afford to meet the cost of treating patients privately. ‘It looks like Bupa calculated that it’s cheaper for them to pay patients to use the NHS than fork out themselves for private treatment. They are cashing in on the NHS.’ The firm has 3million UK customers and last year made £139million profit. A Bupa spokesman said less than 1 per cent of eligible members had taken up the offer, but added: ‘Our customers tell us that being able to choose where to have treatment … is important. ‘They may choose to receive treatment in the NHS instead of using their health insurance because, for example, they may live close to an NHS hospital with excellent cardiac or cancer treatment facilities. ‘Or they may require or value some extra financial support over private treatment due to their personal circumstances. ‘If they choose NHS treatment, we offer them a cash payment because they have not claimed on their health insurance policy for this treatment. ‘They can then use this for the other substantial costs that can mount up when people have serious illnesses, such as childcare, travel to and from hospital or the need to pay for extra help around the home.’
Bupa accused of dumping patients on NHS for most expensive procedures .
This means that the medical insurance provider can increase profits .
Company also accused of cherry-picking patients they consider lucrative .
By . Daniel Martin . Clive Peedell, English doctor specialising in clinical oncology. He claims the 'bribes' are 'outrageous' Bupa has been accused of ‘bribing’ its patients with up to £2,000 to use the NHS rather than private hospitals. The medical insurer offers financial incentives to those who agree to have heart, cancer or gynaecological surgery in Health Service hospitals. One campaigner said Bupa was ‘dumping’ these patients on the NHS because the procedures they need are the most expensive – meaning the company can save money and accumulate higher profits. The firm denied this, saying the money given out in the ‘NHS cash benefit’ offer was simply a rebate because the patients were not accessing the private care their health insurance policies could provide. But Labour said the company was simply putting increased pressure on the Health Service, which was already overburdened. The party’s health spokesman, Andrew Gwynne, called on the Government to hold a probe into the impact of BUPA’s payments. He said: ‘To many people, these payments will feel like bribes. ‘Private companies are increasingly cherry-picking patients and treatments they consider lucrative, leaving the NHS to pick up the bill for the most difficult services.’ John Lister, of pressure group Health Emergency, said private healthcare firms were ‘milking the NHS’. ‘The operations they are offering to pay people to have on the NHS are the ones they are least equipped to deal with … Bupa has realised these operations are the most expensive and are now dumping these patients on the NHS,’ he said. ‘NHS hospitals are already struggling to cope with less staff and fewer resources. The burden of extra patients needing complex operations will cause significant problems … it’s scandalous.’ Bupa has been accused of dumping patients on the NHS so they can avoid the most expensive surgeries . The controversial offer was revealed in a letter from Bupa to a cardiac patient, which said the payment of between £500 and £2,000 ‘takes the place of private treatment funding’. Dr Louise Irvine, a GP in south-east London, said: ‘The NHS is effectively subsidising the private sector because these private health insurers can charge a smaller premium in the knowledge the NHS is there to deal with anything complex and costly.’ Dr Clive Peedell, co-leader of the National Health Action Party, said: ‘This is an outrageous example of how the private healthcare sector is happy to take patients’ money but then turns to the NHS when it realises it can’t afford to meet the cost of treating patients privately. ‘It looks like Bupa calculated that it’s cheaper for them to pay patients to use the NHS than fork out themselves for private treatment. They are cashing in on the NHS.’ The firm has 3million UK customers and last year made £139million profit. A Bupa spokesman said less than 1 per cent of eligible members had taken up the offer, but added: ‘Our customers tell us that being able to choose where to have treatment … is important. ‘They may choose to receive treatment in the NHS instead of using their health insurance because, for example, they may live close to an NHS hospital with excellent cardiac or cancer treatment facilities. ‘Or they may require or value some extra financial support over private treatment due to their personal circumstances. ‘If they choose NHS treatment, we offer them a cash payment because they have not claimed on their health insurance policy for this treatment. ‘They can then use this for the other substantial costs that can mount up when people have serious illnesses, such as childcare, travel to and from hospital or the need to pay for extra help around the home.’
cherry-picking patients and treatments they consider lucrative, leaving the NHS to pick up Bupa has been accused of dumping patients on the NHS so they can avoid the most expensive