Billions lost in PPE chaos, fraud and bungled loans
While the NHS has to badger and campaign to secure even a £20bn down payment on the costs of reconstruction after more than a decade of decline and falling real … Read more
NHS spend on private companies up 27 per cent in a year
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
Low NHS capacity in mental health leaves it beholden to private companies
The evidence of a massive increase in people in need of help from mental health services in the UK is now incontrovertible. NHS England reports 1.4 million people on the … Read more
Firms Employing MPs Won £1.1 Billion in Contracts During Pandemic
Byline Times reports that ten companies received more than £1.1 billion in Government contracts during the Coronavirus pandemic while employing Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs as advisors or non-executive directors. … Read more
Hundreds of England’s NHS consultants have shares in private clinics
The Centre for Health and the Public Interest (CHPI), an independent thinktank, has identified 481 consultants in England with shares in 34 private ventures set up in partnership with providers ranging from … Read more
Surge deal – good for business, bad for the NHS?
Health secretary Sajid Javid’s decision last week to force through another ‘surge capacity’ deal with independent providers, to protect the health service from being overwhelmed by the Omicron variant, has … Read more
Past mistakes repeated in academy-style hospitals proposal
Almost identical reports in the (£) Times and Daily Mail that Sajid Javid “is planning to set up academy style hospitals,” potentially run by the private sector (coyly described as “outside sponsors”), are clearly much more … Read more
BMA critical of private hospital deal
The BMA has criticised the government for striking a costly agreement by NHS England to block book private hospital beds in case they are required for NHS patients in the … Read more
High court rules use of ‘VIP lane’ to award Covid PPE contracts unlawful
The Good Law Project has won its case against the government over the use of a “VIP lane” to award PPE contracts. In a written judgment, handed down on Wednesday, … Read more
Growing outcry over vaccine centre sell-off
Over the Christmas-New Year break more scientists joined a growing outcry against the government plan to sell off the Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre UK (VMIC), which was first revealed by the Financial Times at the … Read more
Trust to sue Bupa, accusing it of ‘immoral behaviour’
Royal Surrey Foundation Trust is set to take legal action against the private healthcare insurance giant, Bupa, accusing the company of failing to fully reimburse the NHS for treating its … Read more
£1k PPE pack sold by Clandeboyes to NHS fetches £5 in auction
A box of personal protective equipment (PPE) which was sold to the NHS by Clandeboyes, a Northern Ireland sweets wholesaler, that cost the taxpayer more than £1,000 during the first … Read more
Care firm making millions faces questions after kids die on its watch
Inquests held just seven days apart heard how Nadia Shah, 16, and 19-year-old Leon Tasi were found with ligatures round their neck at clinics run by private company Elysium Healthcare. … Read more
Five Tory MPs and peers who referred firms to VIP lane
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
Michael Gove backer won £164m in PPE contracts
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
UNISON fights new subco plan
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
NHS diagnostics losing out to the private sector
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
Private hospitals v NHS: study is not the full picture
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
Ex-minister Alun Cairns took job at Covid firm weeks before £75m contract
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
CQC restricts provider’s admissions
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
