NHS patients will be sent to private hospitals for treatment this week as nurses around the country go on strike amid calls for a fair pay rise.
Private health providers are reportedly in discussion with hospitals on a list of 76 NHS sites that will be affected by industrial action and may carry out procedures in a bid to ease backlogs.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will stage its first-ever national walkout on December 15 and 20 from 8am to 8pm.
The union, which represents about two-thirds of NHS nurses, warned they have had "enough of being taken for granted".
According to reports, hospitals have been asked to warn patients if their producers have been moved to a private provider.
Any procedures carried out privately will be paid by the NHS and is likely to produce a significant bill for taxpayers' later this month, reports The Telegraph.
There are concerns in the NHS that cancelling procedures altogether may put the health service under even more pressure following backlogs created by the coronavirus pandemic.
Figures published in September revealed that there were 6.73 million people waiting for NHS treatment in June 2022.
Miriam Deakin, the director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, said: "Trusts will explore all avenues to keep as many services for NHS patients running as possible.
"That includes working with colleagues in the independent sector and other partners to offer more capacity on strike days where they can."
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the Government wants to ensure everyone is "safe" during the NHS strikes later this month.
The Foreign Secretary said the Government is putting "contingency" plans in place as ambulance workers, nurses and other NHS staff plan to go on strike over several days in December.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, he said: "We are looking at contingency planning to make sure that we can keep people safe and people should rely on the NHS, they should call 999 if there's a problem and we'll work to make sure that they can be moved from where they are to where they need to be treated."
The Foreign Secretary said that the Government wanted to make sure that people are "safe".
It comes as Sir Stephen Powis, medical director of NHS England, said he predicted it would take a total of five years to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic.
He told BBC ’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that there were 6,000 patients in hospital as the country experienced the fifth wave of the year and added there was the continuing threat of a new variant.
He said: "Eventually we think it will become a seasonal infection, probably in the winter, but that hasn't happened yet.
"Like any natural disaster, there is a clear-up operation and it will take us several years to get on top of the backlog and the disruption caused."
Mr Powis said industrial action could hit attempts by the NHS to reduce waiting lists.
He said: "That, of course, could be knocked off course, industrial action is one thing, but there could be a significant wave of Covid, a new variant perhaps, there could be a high peak of flu, there is trouble brewing this winter, we will see how we get on."
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting accused the Government of "spoiling for a fight" over NHS strikes this winter.
He told Sky News that the Government needs to "grow up and get around the table" after the Royal College of Nursing and Unison said they will suspend strikes if ministers are prepared to meet and talk about pay.
He said: "I think that is an offer that’s too good to refuse and I want the Government to explain why they aren’t prepared to even sit down and talk even though they know patients will experience real disruption as a result of strike action."
He added: "The Government’s line is a complete joke on that, there hasn’t been a single minute of negotiation.
"It is completely unreasonable for the Government not to want to negotiate and I think they’re spoiling with a fight.
"I think they don’t have a plan for the NHS this winter, they’re quite happy to see paramedics and nurses go on strike because when the proverbial hits the fan this winter, they are going to blame paramedics and nurses for an NHS crisis that is squarely the fault of a Conservative government and 12 years of mismanagement."
