THE head of a leading private hospital has revealed it does not have the capacity to carry out major NHS surgery during the second Covid wave - after giving over their beds in lockdown.
Kingsbridge chief executive Mark Regan also said they had experienced a big increase in demand for orthopaedic operations and were now dealing with their own waiting lists, with almost 200 hip replacements carried out between July and September.
Based in south Belfast - they also run a facility in Sligo - the business was one of three private sector hospitals in Northern Ireland which offered its staff, operating theatres and facilities to the health service last March as the pandemic hit.
Complex cancer surgery, including lung resections, were among those carried out by Kingsbridge over a three month period during the first surge. All private operations were cancelled.
However, Mr Regan said that while they will continue to provide NHS assistance, it will not be possible to maintain previous levels.
The Irish News understands that approaches will be made in coming days to private clinics to help with diagnostic procedures due to a spike in Covid admissions and the cancellation of planned surgeries.
The Kingsbridge chief said they have the ability to carry out "countless consultations" for the NHS but theatre resources will be an issue.
"We can certainly carry out diagnostics and elective procedures for the health service but leasing space in a main operating theatre when I have my own queue isn't really acceptable from a business perspective," Mr Regan said.
"In April, May and June we lost staff to furlough or who became unemployed. From July 1 when we returned to our own surgery, the NHS requested access and use of a substantial portion of the hospital but only leasing the space. A further approach was made last week.
"We were not able to give that because of the pent-up demand we're experiencing. We are doing what we can and certainly there are some day case cancer procedures we are still doing for the NHS - the partnership between us over the past seven months has never been as good."
Prior to lockdown, waiting lists for orthopaedics in the north's health trusts were among the worst in Europe, with some patients facing delays of three to four years.
The impact of the pandemic has exacerbated the problem, with concerns mounting about the "two tier" health system that allows those with money to pay for care.
Mr Regan said they had noticed a slump in demand in March but there was now a significant increase. In addition to hip and knee replacements, more people are paying privately for gynaecology procedures and cataract surgery.
"Part of it is to do with demand from cancellations in the first wave but the other part of it is that people have just had enough. They're not going on holiday and saying, we need to pay for granny’s hip. She's suffering and we know it won’t be done for years now," he added.
"People can wait a few months but they can't wait a few years.
"Our waiting lists have increased by three or four weeks, in my world that's a substantial delay."
