Claims by Matt Hancock, Simon Stevens and other senior figures from NHS England that the private hospital sector should be regarded as a permanent “partner” of the NHS after the block booking … Read more
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The British logistics company, Uniserve, was awarded Covid-19-related contracts worth around £800m in 2020, all of which were awarded without an open tender. This makes the company the largest recipient … Read more
A Guardian investigation has found that England’s test and trace service is being sub-contracted to a myriad of private companies employing inexperienced contact tracers under pressure to meet targets. Serco, … Read more
The government has refused to publish a list of companies that benefited from being put in the ‘high-priority’ lane for Covid-19 contract work. It has also refused to reveal who … Read more
The Guardian reports that the government’s £22bn test-and-trace system has failed to reach more than 100,000 people exposed to coronavirus in England’s worst-hit areas since the second wave began with … Read more
It seems that not a day goes past without a new revelation of wrongdoing or bad practice in the process of signing contracts with the private sector, this includes sub-standard … Read more
The Guardian reports that in what appear to be a breach of the law, the government has failed to publish any information about £4bn of Covid-related contracts awarded to private … Read more
The HSJ has reported that a contract published by the Department of Health and Social Care showed that it had hired the management consultancy McKinsey to work on a significant NHS technology … Read more
A series of contract awards, which total £1.6 bn, published for the first time shows that Circle Health and Spire Healthcare were handed the largest contracts to provide extra staff … Read more
HSJ reports that private hospital providers have been asked to apply to a new procurement framework worth up to £10bn, from which NHS organisations will purchase additional capacity for up to … Read more
The FT reports that the UK government has awarded £10bn worth of contracts related to the coronavirus crisis to private companies since March, mostly without a competitive tender. The research … Read more
MPs have launched legal action over the government’s failure to disclose details of its spending on contracts related to the pandemic, as it emerged that it has failed to account … Read more
On 1 October 2020, NHS England passed its budget for specialist mental health services to 10 groups of providers across England, but plans show that even after changes, there will be a … Read more
Mental Health Services The NHS has a large number of contracts with private providers for mental health services, both residential and in the community. The last few years have seen … Read more
Digital Health reports figures revealed during a Public Accounts Committee hearing that show that around £25 million is expected to be spent this financial year on the new app, while … Read more
Contracts in the area of community healthcare can be very complicated, involving many different organisations and different areas of care. The contracts can fail on many levels, including failure of … Read more
A seemingly endless succession of large-scale “Framework Agreements” have been rolled out by NHS England and the Department of Health in recent months, creating conditions for more rapid award of … Read more
The private sector has been the winner in the Government’s response to COVID-19 in England – but why, given the growing and predictable litany of mistakes it has made? A … Read more
An analysis by the Open Contracting Partnership and Spend Network has found that the UK has spent more than £2.5bn on services and equipment related to the Covid-19 pandemic. The … Read more
The North of England Commercial Procurement Collaboration are to launch a £1.4 bn procurement framework for external help for discharge and community services. The procurement was launched after consulting with … Read more
