NHS staff say they were stunned after posters appeared in the Royal Free’s A&E waiting room advertising private health services.

The signs in the A&E suggest that patients could enjoy “comfort and convenience” if they booked a paid transfer to the hospital’s Private Patient Unit (PPU). The Hampstead hospital has three private patient wards on the 12th floor of the main building providing day care.

One worker said: “There are seriously ill people in the A&E and the hospital is advertising private health care?

“People are waiting for days for a bed are basically being told that if they had money they’d get a bed quicker. Most of us – staff and patients – can’t afford private medical insurance and they’re sticking this up? It’s north of disgusting. We should all be appalled by this.”

Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, NHS hospital trusts were permitted to generate up to 49 per cent of their income from private patients. But the space PPUs are allowed to take up in NHS buildings is restricted and so often revenues do not come close to that figure.

Since Covid, there has been a huge increase in the number of patients paying for treatment due to the backlog of outpatient appointments and long waiting times in A&E.

Critics of the system say PPUs represent a “two-tier” health system and go against the founding principles of the NHS. The government has also been criticised for failing to properly fund hospitals and forcing NHS Trusts to rely on private patients to sustain themselves.

A Royal Free London spokesperson said: “The Royal Free London Private Patients Unit (PPU) promotes its services through a range of channels, including social media, as well as more traditional routes.

“This is to ensure that patients with medical insurance are aware that they can access the PPU’s services.

“All income generated by the PPU is reinvested in the trust to improve services for NHS patients. The unit is wholly separate from our NHS capacity and does not impact on our ability to deliver care to NHS patients.”