An NHS hospital is now being run by a private firm and it is the first one to do so.

Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Cambridgeshire that had a debt of about £40m had threatened closure but now has been taken over by Circle, which is co-owned by doctors.

Circle states that it has a way of controlling the debt problem at the hospital and this will be done by attracting new patients.

It was added by the union Unison that it was good that the hospital had been saved but there were concerns about involving private firms in the NHS.

The deal is of 10 years and it is worth a groundbreaking £1bn and in this period the financial risks of making the hospital efficient will be assumed by Circle along with paying off its £40m of debts.

Circle said, “We want to work with the hospital's staff to improve the safety of services, and to minimise the number of times patients have to travel to the hospital for different appointments.”

For improving certain areas, specific timelines are being set and one of these is time being spent by nurses with patients.

Units will lead these changes and these units will comprise a doctor, nurse and administrator.