[Margaret Pilkington]

All businesses are in business to make a profit.

which cuts are you referring to and how is the private company running a service making a profit?
Are these firms charging the end user...or just billing the NHS?

I know that some surgical/diagnostic services have been contracted out to private hospitals(like Gisburn Park.....or Beardwood) and this is often done to remain on the tick list provided by the government.....so that targets are met. This isn't to provide for a CLINICAL NEED.
This is where money could be saved....ditching the targets and box ticking mentality.

Also local services are heavily tied into the Private Finance Initiative....this was something that the Labour administration thought would bamboozle Joe public into thinking that they were getting nice shiny new facilities......however, would you take on a debt that you didn't know how much it would cost in the long term?......one where you were tied into using Balfour Beattie services at exorbitant costs rather than your in house works department.....carpentry, electricians, plumbers etc?

Very many uneconomic(plain daft) decisions were taken by people in government which saddled hospitals with increasing bills......while at the same time trying to provide services for an aging community with poor socio economic backgrounds. Multi ethnicities complicate this still further.........so it was bound to end up in a mess.