"The number of NHS [England] patients having surgery in private hospitals has nearly trebled since 2010, sparking accusations that for-profit companies are benefitting from an “enfeebled” health system under the Conservatives. NHS figures obtained by the Guardian show that it paid for 214,967 people in England to have an operation in a private hospital in 2009-10, Labour’s last year in power. The figure soared to 613,833 last year, a 185% rise in nine years....  Since 2007, 68,175 NHS-funded operations have been carried out by the independent sector in Scotland – an average of almost 6,000 a year since the SNP took office. The number of operations peaked between 2013 and 2016 when they hovered around the 10,000 mark....  The arithmetic is easy. More than 100 times as much private surgery or, per head of population, TEN times as much."
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