Hospitals in England will be able to use private hospitals and staff under a deal with the NHS to maintain services as Omicron cases surge, avoiding delays in treatment for patients with illnesses such as cancer.

The move comes as hospitals have also been told to find extra beds in gyms and education centres owing to rising numbers of Covid patients.

The three-month agreement means private healthcare staff and facilities will be on standby to support the NHS if required and to maintain services for patients who can be referred, including some of those waiting for cancer surgery.

Nightingale hubs are being created in the grounds of some hospitals as part of a move to create up to 4,000 extra beds.

The NHS coronavirus test-and-trace system designed to prevent a second deadly wave is not expected to work at full speed until September or October, the Guardian has learned.

Tony Prestedge, the chief operating officer of the NHS scheme, admitted in a webinar to staff that the programme would be “imperfect” at launch, adding that he hoped it would be operational at a world-class level within three to four months.

It comes as a leaked email from the chief executive of Serco – one of the main companies contracted to deliver the service – revealed how he doubted the scheme would evolve smoothly but said he wanted it to “cement the position of the private sector” in the NHS supply chain. 

The disclosures come as scientists said lockdown measures should not be eased until the test-and-trace service is well established. The system, which tracks those who have contracted coronavirus and anyone they have been in contact with, before asking them to self-isolate, was rolled out across England last week with the help of 25,000 contact tracers.

Justin Madders, a shadow health minister, said the idea that the system may be months away from being fully operational was “deeply concerning”. 

Voters believe that privatisation of public services has deepened regional inequality and “left behind” parts of Britain in the name of profit, new research has found.  

Polling conducted by Survation asked members of the public why they supported the renationalisation of public services such as public transport, utilities and the Royal Mail.

The most popular reason given by supporters of public ownership was that extra funds should go back into services rather than to shareholders, with 41 per cent citing this as the reason for their support.

A roughly equal number, 40 per cent, also said they believe that “privately owned companies prioritise profitable areas over providing a good service to everyone”.

The finding comes after a torrid few years for railway services in the north of England that cumulated with the government taking the Northern rail franchise back into public ownership on a temporary basis. 

Private firms have been handed almost £15bn in NHS contracts over the past five years, figures show.

The value of contracts given to non-NHS providers, mainly profit-driven firms but also including some social enterprises, has soared by 89% since 2015, from £1.9bn to £3.6bn a year.

More than eight out of 10 care home beds are provided by profit-driven companies, including more than 50,000 by large operators owned by private equity firms, research reveals.

Private companies now own and run 84% of beds in care homes in England used by older people, as local councils have almost totally withdrawn from a key area of social care they used to dominate.

The disclosure of the private sector’s huge market share has raised concerns because some of the biggest operators have large debts, are alleged to use tax avoidance schemes and drive down staff pay. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) watchdog has said inadequate staffing levels at care homes can lead to elderly residents receiving poor-quality care.

For-profit companies own 381,524 (83.6%) of England’s 456,545 care home beds, research by the IPPR thinktank (in partnership with Future Care Capital) has found, based on analysis of data from the CQC and Companies House, an increase on the 82% in 2015.

“The state has abdicated its responsibility for providing care over recent decades. The private sector may have filled this gap but it consistently puts profits before people,” said Harry Quilter-Pinner, a senior research fellow at the IPPR and co-author of the report.