A list of the 47 companies referred to the government’s VIP fast-track lane for contracts to supply PPE has been revealed. These are five of the significant political figures whose … Read more
David Meller, a Conservative party donor who supported Michael Gove’s Tory leadership bid, won £164m in Covid contracts after the minister referred his firm to a “VIP lane” that awarded … Read more
Many campaigners remember the privatisation of Hinchingbrooke Hospital. It was claimed far and wide as the answer to turning around a hospital which had posed problems for years. But after awards were … Read more
Independent providers are receiving substantial public funds to help shift the backlog in diagnostics, amidst fears of long term arrangements NHS radiology staff are understaffed by 33% and equipment is … 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
Alun Cairns, a former Welsh secretary, took a £15,000-a-year job at a diagnostics company a few weeks before it was part of a consortium that secured a £75 million government … 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
The Times has reported that Randox, the diagnostics company that paid Owen Paterson as a lobbyist, won a £133 million Covid-19 testing contract days before government officials concluded that it … Read more
The Care Quality Commission has forbidden two private hospitals from admitting patients without permission from regulators, after inspectors reported multiple instances of poor care, including patients being pushed and laughed … Read more
The government’s test-and-trace system, run by Serco and several other private providers, has failed to achieve “its main objective” to cut infection levels and help Britain return to normal despite … Read more
Immensa, a private laboratory in Wolverhampton that is under investigation for potentially issuing more than 40,000 false negative Covid tests, was not fully accredited to perform the work, contrary to … 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
Mental health services are very unlikely to see any of the £15 billion in funding announced by the government in the first week of September, according to sources reported in the HSJ, … Read more
Health Minister Edward Argar has agreed to table a government amendment to the Health and Care Bill that would prevent private interests from being on any Integrated Care Board. This has now … Read more
A report from Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board into the deaths of three adults with learning disabilities at a failed hospital should prompt a review to prevent further “lethal outcomes” at … 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
Cygnet Health Care has been repeatedly criticised by regulators and has now had its leadership at one hospital described as “ineffective”. The company received an urgent enforcement notice from the … Read more
Premier Mental Health Transport Ltd (PMHT) has been banned from transporting patients until October, following its staff failing to spot a grandmother’s decline whilst being transported. Peggy Copeman, 81, died … Read more
Dr Ashraf Chohan, founder and chair of Conservative Friends of the NHS, which aims to forge ties between politicians and healthcare workers in the private and public sectors, and his son … Read more
Union leaders have called for staff that work in the NHS, such as cleaners, porters, catering assistants, security guards and other health staff, but employed by private companies to receive … Read more
