Centres may put NHS jobs at risk.

JOBS could be threatened and NHS finances thrown into disarray over plans for more privately-run treatment centres, the British Medical Association (BMA) warned yesterday.

Up to 10 Clinical Assessment Treat and Support (CATS) centres could be built in Cumbria and Lancashire following a period of consultation.

They receive funding from the NHS with the aim of providing more care in the community and cutting NHS waiting lists.

CATS will go a step further than the much-criticised independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs) by also carrying out tests and assessments on patients before operations.

As a result, doctors' leaders fear that NHS consultants may end up carrying out complicated operations without having assessed a patient fully themselves. Under the plans, all GP outpatient referrals in six specialties would go to a CATS centre, run by the private company Netcare.

Six in 10 cases would be dealt with by Net-care, rather than referred to an NHS consultant, the BMA said.

It also expressed concern over the award of an ICATS (Integrated Clinical Assessment and Treatment Services) contract for Greater Manchester to a private provider, possibly resulting in NHS job losses.

Netcare already runs a surgical treatment centre in Greater Manchester and has been selected as preferred bidder for part of the ICATS scheme there, leading to a possible conflict of interest.

Dr Jonathan Fielden, chairman of the BMA's Consultants Committee, said: "These proposals could represent a significant threat to local NHS hospitals."