When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, the NHS was unprepared due to its “heavily privatised, convoluted, and fundamentally dysfunctional system” of product supply, in particular of personal protective equipment (PPE), according … Read more
Serco has apologised after accidentally sharing the email addresses of almost 300 contact tracers. The company has been employed by the government to recruit staff as contact tracers for cases … Read more
HSJ reports that 14 trust procurement chiefs have been brought in to help the central team trying to source personal protective equipment. The heads of procurement at 14 trusts and … Read more
HSJ reports that the internal NHS email containing information on how many residents and staff have tested positive is no longer reporting test results from commercial laboratories. This lack of … Read more
Out of sight of public scrutiny, dozens of private companies have been awarded contracts to carry out work for the NHS, much of which could have been carried out by … Read more
Randox Laboratories which employs the prominent Conservative politician Owen Paterson as a paid consultant has been awarded a £133 million contract under the new fast-track procurement rules that mean no other companies … Read more
The Guardian reports that doctors, campaign groups, academics and MPs have raised concerns that the government is using the coronavirus pandemic to transfer key public health duties from the NHS and other … Read more
The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the use of digital health solutions in the NHS. On 5 March, NHS England sent all GP practices a letter advising that patients be assessed online or via … Read more
Staff in NHS laboratories are increasingly alarmed at the implications of the government’s turn to create a new network of “super-labs” to process what is supposed to be a rising number of … Read more
Digital Health reports that eleven suppliers have been selected to provide video consultations for primary care in an effort to reduce the number of face-to-face consultations in primary care. The … Read more
The department of reproductive medicine at St Mary’s Hospital, Manchester, the UK’s oldest NHS fertility clinic, is at risk of closure and another centre has been put out for privatisation, as IVF … Read more
Boots UK and digital healthcare provider LIVI have formed a new long-term partnership to enable patients to remotely access a Boots pharmacist via LIVI’s app. Patients will be able to … Read more
HSJ reports that the NHS’ property company (NHSPS) has taken the maintenance of many community hospitals and GP surgeries in-house, after years of the services being delivered by a private … Read more
The HSJ reports in an exclusive that the Royal Wolverhampton Trust has become the first provider to sign a deal with Babylon Health for citywide coverage of a new covid-19 … Read more
The HSJ reports that twelve support staff including some senior managers say they have been “cast aside” unexpectedly after a new provider took over the contract for their service. The … Read more
HSJ reports that Livi, which provides remote consultations to the NHS and across Europe through an app, has recorded a 107 per cent increase in consultations from 1 February to … Read more
HSJ reports that Nottingham University Hospitals Trust could move cancer operations to the private sector as it prepares for a surge in coronavirus cases. The trust has already stopped its … Read more
NHS England is to enter into a historic deal with the private sector to provide thousands more beds, extra ventilators and additional staff as the health service attempts to fight against the … Read more
In mid-March 2020, NHS England issued a confidential 48-hour tender for the immediate provision of online primary care consultation to help the health service cope with patient demand in the … Read more
According to the German newspaper Die Welt, the Trump administration offered “large sums of money” to a German biopharmaceutical firm to move its research on a coronavirus vaccine to the USA. The company, … Read more
