A COLCHESTER MP has condemned plans for a private treatment centre in an NHS hospital as a "direct attack" on the service.

The Department of Health has announced it will "take forward" plans for the independent centre in Braintree, which will be part of plans for a new community hospital on the existing St Michael's Hospital site, in Rayne Road, Braintree.

It will provide services such as day and inpatient surgery, hernia operations and orthopedic surgery.

MP Bob Russell said he believed primary care trusts (PCTs) would have to earmark a fixed number of NHS patients for the centre, which could have a detrimental effect on local hospitals.

He said: "The whole point of these so-called independent treatment centres is to guarantee income for the NHS, whether or not they do the work they are being paid to do.

"This is, in my opinion, a direct attack on the universal NHS - it's semi-privatisation because it is transferring money from the public NHS into these private centres.

"It is not good news for the long-term costs of the NHS and the community if the Government thinks this is a short-term fix.

"I'm opposed to the whole concept and principle because they are a dilution of the NHS."

A spokesman for Mid Essex PCT, which is leading the project, said: "The Department of Health said there needed to be one in Essex, and Braintree was chosen because we had land to build it on.

"But now it has been decided it will be part of the new community hospital which we are planning."

He explained one floor of the hospital was likely to be given over to the new treatment centre, which would be funded independently of the NHS.

"They chose Braintree because there was enough population and capacity from other hospitals nearby," he said.

"It won't cost the PCT anything, apart from paying for the patients we send there."

PETER Murphy, chief executive of Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust, which runs Colchester General Hospital, said he had previously raised concerns about whether there were enough patients for the new Braintree centre.

He said: "We haven't been informed of the details of these latest plans, which makes it difficult to take a view at this stage.

"However, along with a number of interested parties, we did raise our concerns over the capacity issues related to the proposed centre and the impact it could have on local services.

"We were assured full account would be taken of our concerns before a decision was reached, and I hope that is the case.

"All we can do now is wait with interest to see the full details of these proposals."