Princess Margaret Hospital back in the Bupa fold

Worried Bupa patients told they could no longer be treated at Princess Margaret Hospital have had some good news.

Bupa warned before Christmas that it would stop using the hospital in Osborne Road, Windsor, at the start of this year - even though as many as 9,000 of its subscribers are treated there monthly.

The shock decision followed months of financial arguments between Bupa and BMI Healthcare, which owns 70 hospitals and clinics.

Bupa accused BMI of charging its patients 20 per cent more than other providers and decided to break off ties with 37 of its 64 hospitals - including Princess Margaret.

But last week Dr Natalie-Jane Macdonald, managing director of Bupa Health and Wellbeing, said that an agreement had been reached and that patients could continue to use Princess Margaret.

She said: "We regret any inconvenience that members and consultants have experienced in recent weeks."

BMI's managing director for hospital operations John Von Klemperer said: "We have worked hard to arrive at a solution."

Neither would discuss details of the financial agreements reached.