There was little public attention paid to the decision last year by US health corporation Centene to spend a reported $700 million in cash to buy out the remaining 60% it didn’t … Read more
Private Providers
Our work and news stories on private providers.
As Sajid Javid announces further private sector involvement in the NHS with the Elective Recovery Plan, there are warnings from ophthalmologists that the safety of NHS patients could be put at … Read more
A Judge has ruled that Pharmacorp must pay £13,670 covering fines, legal costs and a victim surcharge for prescribing drugs without a CQC registration. The online GP service, also known … Read more
The NHS England ‘Delivery Plan’ to tackle the growing backlog of waiting list treatment, announced on February 8, is not a plan at all. It lacks sufficient investment and – … Read more
NHS England’s annual accounts show that NHS commissioners’ spending on private healthcare were up 27% to more than £18bn in 2020-21, with pandemic effects causing it to rise faster than … Read more
Research that shows better outcomes for private hospitals is missing the key depth to be definitive. The data shows that NHS patients treated in private hospitals are wealthier, older, fitter … Read more
Adult wards at St Andrew’s Healthcare, a major independent mental health provider, has been criticised by inspectors from the Care Quality Commission, after an inspection at a facility in Northampton. The provider … Read more
Since the pandemic began early last year, NHS waiting lists – currently sitting at 5.6m, and growing by 150,000 a month, up by 20 per cent since the start of the pandemic and … Read more
Spire Healthcare, Britain’s second-largest private hospital operator, as seen its profits rise as a result of a surge in patients choosing to pay for hip and knee operations, as the … Read more
The Australian private hospital chain Ramsay has increased its offer to buy the UK company Spire Healthcare. The takeover will mean Ramsay will merge Spire’s 47 hospitals with Ramsay’s 40 … Read more
The government has been urged to publish details of up to £2bn in Covid-19 contracts to provide extra capacity during the pandemic awarded to private healthcare companies, including some that have … Read more
Research carried out by the Labour Party shows that more than £96bn of health service funding has gone to non-NHS providers of care over the last decade, with the amount … Read more
While most of the NHS battles to catch back up with a still-growing backlog of patients waiting for elective treatment, Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust is looking instead to expand … Read more
Spire Healthcare has stated that it is “cautiously optimistic” that trading and profits will bounce back to 2019 levels after reporting income down by 6.2% to £920m during 2020, not least because … Read more
Campaigners against privatisation of the NHS have written to Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, questioning the legality of the recent takeover of large numbers of … Read more
A leaked version of the new NHS White Paper has confirmed the government’s plan to remove the much criticised competition rules, which allow commercial companies to bid for a vast array of … Read more
According to the HSJ NHS England has invoked a ‘surge’ clause in its Covid contracts with private hospitals and given six private hospitals in London a week’s notice that their entire capacity … Read more
The extent to which NHS England now sees the future in a permanent alliance with private hospital chains was underlined in October by NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens taking time … Read more
An exultant article from the grinning director of the Independent Healthcare Provider Network (IHPN) David Furness in the October issue of Healthcare Markets magazine reminds readers that the dire situation of the NHS has … Read more
The Guardian reports that there are concerns that long NHS waiting times caused by the coronavirus crisis are exacerbating pre-existing health inequalities and creating a “two-tier” system, as more people turn to … Read more
