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Hospitals are abusing David Cameron’s NHS reforms to charge patients for treatment which used to be free, Labour has revealed.

Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham said the secret development was the “next scandal” to hit the NHS.

He revealed under the Government’s reforms, the NHS had started rationing healthcare to save cash - while at the same time offering patients the chance to “self fund” their treatment to jump the queue.

Warrington and Halton Hospitals in the North West have admitted that “some treatments provided in the past may no longer be accessible through local NHS funding”.

But the hospitals add patients can “pay to have these procedures with us at the standard NHS price” instead.

Chelsea and Westminster, Southampton, Great Yarmouth and James Paget University Hospitals Trust all offer similar deals, Freedom of Information requests released by Labour showed.

In total, NHS hospitals have increased their private work by almost £100million since Mr Cameron opened up the health service to profit-making firms.

In October 2012, the Government gave hospitals the freedom to generate up to 49% of their income from private patients.

Over the following year, hospitals raked in £434 million from private treatment - a boost of some £47 million on 2010/11 when the Tories took power.

This will increase by a further £45 million to £479 million by next year, according to projections.

The boost in paid-for treatment has coincided with an increase in rationing brought in under the government’s reforms.

Former Health Secretary Andrew Lansley introduced new “clinical commissioning groups” - run by doctors and nurses - which have the power to decide which treatments are available in their local area.

In the last six months one in seven of these bodies have brought in new restrictions over what treatments people can get, according to a survey by the British Medical Journal.

(Image: Mirrorpix)

These included eight restricting treatment for recurrent migraines, three putting up new barriers to hip or knee replacement surgery, two rationing cataract surgery and four stopping Caesarean operations for non-medical reasons.

Hospitals have jumped on the restrictions to offer patients the chance to pay for the treatment instead.

Southampton General Hospital’s website states: “Fewer non-urgent services can be paid for by the NHS but we know that patients still want to see our expert staff and be treated within the advanced care environment of a specialist teaching hospital.

“We offer the full range of consultations, investigations and treatments that you would expect from a specialist hospital.”

But it adds: “Our premier cataract service offers a new option, between the traditional private sector and the NHS, bringing private healthcare within the reach of many more people.

“This service offers you the option of cataract surgery even if your vision is better than the current level required for NHS surgery. We offer surgery when you feel you need it.”

Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust offers private removal of varicose veins.

Their website states: “There are some treatments provided in the past that may no longer be accessible through local NHS funding.

“However, we know that many patients still want to have these procedures with us. In order to give our patients choice around their care, we have developed the MyChoice service.

“This allows you to pay (self-fund) to have these procedures with us at the standard NHS price. Private health insurance may also cover the cost of these procedures with us.”

Chelsea and Westminster hospital offers patients the chance to pay for “all medical and surgical specialities”.

Mr Burnham promised to roll back the growing privatisation in the health service - and repeal the Government’s controversial overhaul of the system within months of winning power in 2015.

(Image: PA)

He accused the Prime Minister of launching the “most audacious attack ever on NHS values”.

He said private health firms, run by people who have donated £1.5 million to the Tories, had won £1.5 billion in NHS contracts.

The Shadow Health Secretary said: “Who gave this Prime Minister permission to sell the NHS to his friends? Nobody. He just did it, as born-to-rule Tories do.”

He added: “NHS hospitals, pushed by Mr Cameron to earn half their income from private patients, charging for beds left empty by these restrictions.

“Think about that. NHS hospitals, built with public money, charging people for treatments that used to be free - and still free to people living elsewhere.

“NHS staff turned over to priority care of those who can pay or are in such pain they have to dig deep. Suffer or pay - the same old choice in a two-tier Tory NHS.

“We’ve got to wake people up to what is happening. The first steps towards an American healthcare system - English hospitals now asking for credit cards before they give care.

Mr Burnham also pledged to roll back NHS privitisation - introduced under Tony Blair.

He said: “For too long, market forces have been allowed to advance into the NHS.

“Well no more. We will make a clear break with that. If we carry on down this path, the market will devour everything precious about the NHS - those values the country celebrated at London 2012.”

Mr Burnham’s speech came on the closing day of the Labour conference in Brighton yesterday before a Question and Answer session with Ed Miliband.

Mr Miliband fuelled rumours there could soon be a reshuffle of his frontbench team after refusing to confirm Mr Burnham will stay as shadow health secretary.

There have been suggestions Mr Burnham could swap jobs with shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

(Image: Getty)

In the Q&A with delegates, Mr Miliband was asked by party member Margaret Barr to keep Mr Burnham in his post.

She said: “We need a new ‘B’ to Beveridge and Bevan, we need the Burnham plan for health and social care. Will you prioritise this social care initiative? Lots of us want to keep Andy in that post thank you.”

But Mr Miliband was non-committal about the future of his shadow health secretary.

He said: “I am four-square behind Andy’s idea, which he talked about in his speech and I talked about in my speech yesterday, that we have got to integrate mental health, physical health and social care because if we don’t do that we are never going to deal with the crunch we have in the health service, the resource crunch we have in the health service,” he said.

Deputy leader Harriet Harman, closing the Conference, turned her fire on Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems for “colluding” with the Tories.

“Week in week out - the Tories bring forward their nasty policies and the Lib Dems - they vote them through.

“They call it coalition - we call it collusion. And then Nick Clegg had the nerve to stand up at his conference and claim that he had been a brake on the Tories.

“With the Lib Dems, it’s not just collusion - it’s delusion,” she said.