Commentary on Sections Functions Section 15: Private health care
82.This section gives the Independent Regulator power to restrict any goods or services provided by an NHS foundation trust that are not provided for the purposes of the health service in England.
83.Subsection (2) obliges the Independent Regulator to exercise this power to impose a cap on the total level of income derived from the provision of services to private patients, if the NHS foundation trust was an NHS trust. In the case of an NHS foundation trust that was an NHS trust in the financial year ending 31 March 2003, the cap must restrict the NHS foundation trust to the proportion of total income received from private patients in that year. For NHS foundation trusts that were not an NHS trust throughout this period, the cap must restrict the NHS foundation trust to the proportion of total income received from private patients in its first full financial year as an NHS trust.