KIMS Hospital welcomes even more patients
Blog Health News 22nd February 2019 Enquiries & appointments
KIMS Hospital, the largest independent hospital in Kent, has seen the number of people paying for their own healthcare treatment grow by 33% compared with 24% in the previous year.
Commenting on this, Simon James CEO of KIMS Hospital stated,
“Our focus is to provide safe, outstanding quality care for both our NHS and private patients. This has been our priority since we opened in April 2014 and it will not change. As we continue to treat more patients, it is clear that KIMS Hospital is becoming the hospital of choice for local people.The reality is that despite extra funding for the NHS, the financial pressure on the NHS is set to increase when faced with an aging population and increasing consumer demands where we naturally expect access to the latest drugs and treatments. Unfortunately, pressure on scarce NHS resources is only going to escalate.”
In this climate, according to Laing & Buisson’s Private Healthcare Self-pay UK Market Report 2018 the number of people choosing to fund their own healthcare has grown by 15 – 25% across the UK.
“Here at KIMS Hospital, more people are continuing to choose to self-pay for their healthcare to avoid what can unfortunately be lengthy delays on waiting lists. For example, we are treating an increasing number of people who require hip or knee replacements i.e. conditions which are not life threatening but can be extremely painful and debilitating.”
KIMS Hospital continues to work in partnership with the NHS, providing care and treatment for local NHS patients. For the year ending April 2018 there was an 18.5% increase in NHS funded patients at the hospital.
Simon James states “I firmly believe that we have a key role to play in the local community in providing safe, outstanding quality care, irrespective of how the treatment is funded. The challenge going forward is about effective integration and funding of healthcare provision in Kent across the NHS and independent providers. At a national level, clarity will also be required on which aspects of healthcare people will be expected to pay for themselves as the public purse is not bottomless.”
Simon James continues; “I’m very passionate about the role KIMS Hospital has to play in not only meeting the healthcare needs of local people, but also as a significant local employer. We employ over 450 people and as KEiBA Employer of the Year 2018, we are committed to ensuring KIMS Hospital goes from strength to strength.”