IHPN’s Industry Barometer: Key findings

Launching the results of its Industry Barometer report, the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) are anticipating strong growth in the private pay markets over the coming year. 

Now in its fifth year, the Industry Barometer surveys 50 senior leaders in the independent healthcare sector who deliver a range of services from acute, diagnostic, primary and community to cancer care and insourcing providing insights about both the private and NHS markets, and the issues affecting their business. 

There are lot of interesting bar charts and percentages to analyse. 

The take aways

PMI: A key finding is the continued optimism for the private medical insurance (PMI) and self-pay market, with 74% of providers feeling ‘positive’ or ‘very positive’ for the PMI market and 62% feeling ‘positive’ or ‘very positive’ about the self-pay market, particularly around primary care and diagnostic services. 

Finances: The Barometer also highlights some of the challenges facing the sector with the current state of public finances and tight fiscal policy resulting in a softening of confidence around NHS funded work, with survey respondents describing the principal driver of commissioner behaviour as pressure to achieve savings. 

NHS: The survey found a marked reduction in how providers feel about the NHS market, with those feeling ‘positive’ or ‘very positive’ down from 54% last year to 40% this year. So, while confidence around the NHS market remains mixed, providers still expect NHS funded services to show the ‘largest growth over the next 12 months’ supported by the partnership agreement with NHS England.  However, IHPN CEO, David Hare said, ‘The fact that the barometer coincided with the payment limits proposals may have been a factor here but members also highlighted budget cuts to local NHS systems…’. Of course since the Barometer was published we have now heard that the cap on elective care funding is being moved to a more flexible approach and details are to be published shortly.

Costs: Other big challenges facing independent sector relate to additional cost pressures on provider businesses from higher NI contributions and NHS policy towards independent providers.

Regulation: A new challenge this year is the increasing uncertainty around the changing regulatory landscape, with widespread reforms taking place particularly at the CQC following Dr Penny Dash’s review. 

Workforce: Workforce challenges again came out as the biggest area of concern with IHPN members taking a proactive approach to ‘grow their own’ workforce through apprenticeships, training and development initiatives – up from 63% last year to 83%. 

Climate: In terms of the climate agenda, there are green shoots with private sector providers confident of achieving IHPN’s industry-wide commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2035 (scope 1 and 2) with 69% ‘confident’ or ‘reasonably confident’ that their organisation will meet this ambitious target – a slight decrease from 76% last year, albeit with an increase in those who are very confident.

IHPN’s Barometer report provides a helpful outlook of some of the key issues relating to private healthcare businesses. 

We now await the government's upcoming ten-year health plan which looks likely to be published in June according to comments made the Health and Social Care Secretary in Parliament. 

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