An NHS hospital trust has been accused of 'disgraceful' privatisation for trying to charge patients more than £18,000 for a hip replacement.
Rationing means the thresholds for some operations have grown higher and people may be expected to live with severe pain before qualifying to get the ops for free.
But Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, near Liverpool, has posted a price list on its website offering various operations to paying customers.
A photo of a poster about 'self-funded procedures' has also been posted online and people have railed against the hospitals charging for once-free treatment.
The hospital trust itself claims its treatments are 'affordable' and said the 'majority' of other NHS hospitals do the same thing.
The NHS trust runs Warrington Hospital in Cheshire (pictured). It said it doesn't make the decisions about which operations are offered for free by the NHS
This list of procedures published by The Mirror shows an upper limit of more than £18,000 for joint replacement operations
'It really is a total disgrace,' Labour's Shadow Health Secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, told The Mirror.
A list of 45 paid-for procedures is available on the website of the trust, which runs Warrington Hospital and Halton General Hospital in Cheshire.
Among them are a knee replacement from £7,179; cataract surgery costing upwards of £1,624; and hip replacement revision surgery for more than £8,447.
A separate list published by The Mirror shows upper prices of £18,143 for knee or hip replacement operations and £7,777 for bunion removal.
People even protested in Halton earlier this week when they found out their hospital is charging for what are now considered procedures of 'low clinical priority'.
Chair of campaign group Keep Our NHS Public, Tony Sullivan, said: 'There are many ways the tentacles of private interests envelop our health service.
'But this rationing of access to health care on the NHS is one of the most blatant ploys. It’s simply disgraceful.'
He called the My Choice service 'privatisation from within'.
The procedures are listed alongside the NHS logo and beneath a slogan which reads: 'My Health, My Well-Being, My Choice'.
On a poster published on Twitter, the trust tells patients they 'have the option to self-fund some procedures'.
A photo of a poster seen on Twitter shows the hospital trust advertising patients' 'option to self-fund some procedures' – the trust's CEO insists the money is reinvested in NHS services
The trust also runs Halton General Hospital (pictured). Campaigners said the My Choice service suggested the hospitals were in the grip of 'tentacles of private interests'
Among the list of procedures offered on the trust's own website are breast reduction with prices starting at £3,720, hip resurfacing (£7,060) and bunion removal (£1,904)
People can also pay for tonsil removal (£2,292), haemorrhoid removal (£1,319) and circumcision (£2,000) at the trust
The Warrington
