Between April and December 2013, close to 70% of all NHS contracts were won by private firms, a campaign group has claimed.
The NHS Support Federation said that 39 out of 57 contracts went to private organisations.
The group, which opposes a competitive market, revealed that 15 of the 57 contracts went to the NHS, two went to charities and one was shared between an NHS and a non-NHS provider.
Between April and December 2013, close to 70% of all NHS contracts were won by private firms, a campaign group has claimed.
The NHS Support Federation said that 39 out of 57 contracts went to private organisations.
The group, which opposes a competitive market, revealed that 15 of the 57 contracts went to the NHS, two went to charities and one was shared between an NHS and a non-NHS provider.
The NHS Support Federation pulled the figures from an analysis of competitive tender notices on the European public procurement website.
However, the Department of Health claims the figures are “selective and misleading”, only relating to a small sample of contracts.
The spokesperson told the BBC: “The reality is that private sector providers only carry out around 6% of all NHS work.”
The types of care most involved in tendering and Any Qualified Provider are diagnostics (63 contracts) mental health (24 contracts), GP services and out of hours (23), home care (21), community health (17) and pharmacy (15).
A statement from the NHS Support Federation reads: “We believe that the evidence already points to a significant transfer of care out of the hands of the NHS towards a range of commercially driven providers.
“It also shows how commercial influence is also spreading to the management of NHS facilities and to the decisions around how the NHS budget is spent.”
