Private companies contracted to deliver services to England's National Health Service (NHS) — including diagnostic tests, surgical procedures, and consultancy — generated £1.6bn in profits over 2023–24 and 2024–25, according to new research by the Centre for Health and the Public Interest. The thinktank's analysis of £12bn worth of contracts with 760 firms found that £2bn went to companies with owners based outside the UK, including £533m to firms registered in tax havens such as Jersey and the Cayman Islands. The findings have prompted calls from politicians for a statutory cap on profit levels, with critics arguing the sums involved — equivalent to the cost of employing over 9,000 doctors — represent an unacceptable drain on public health funding.