NHS in Britain buys private heart hospital

Britain's NHS has bought a private heart hospital in the first act of renationalisation since the introduction of the Welfare State.

The Government paid £27.5m for The Heart Hospital, a state-of-the-art 95-bed unit in central London.

The hospital, which has recently been refurbished with 35 ensuite single or double rooms and four operating theatres, was reported to have been suffering financial problems.

"This is the first purchase of its kind for the NHS," a Department of Health spokeswoman said.

Asked whether similar purchases were being considered, she said: "It is something we will have to look at. We won't rule it out."

All the hospital's current staff will be retained, she confirmed.

Sir Richard Needham, the former Tory Cabinet minister and chairman of The Heart Hospital,said that building a similar standard of unit from scratch would have cost the NHS millions many millions more.

"This is the best private cardiac facility in Europe and it matches anywhere else in the world," he said.

The hospital will become the new cardiac centre of University College London Hospital, more than doubling the number of heart operations UCLH currently carries out.

UCLH's former cardiac unit will become a "fast-track" hospital specialising in orthopaedic and urology operations.