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
Outsourcing
The Times reports that Andrew Mills, a former government adviser who brokered the bungled £250 million PPE contract with Ayanda Capital, has used an obscure change in company status to … Read more
The professional body representing laboratory staff, the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS), has expressed concerns over the plans – revealed to trade unions by Dido Harding – for the first of … 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
A determined fight by 72 in-house support staff at Hinchingbrooke Hospital has successfully fought off plans by North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust to outsource the services without even submitting … Read more
Lowdown readers may remember that the SE London Integrated Care System (‘Our Healthier South East London’ – OHSEL) has been overseeing the drawing up of a huge pathology network contract … Read more
Covid-19 contracts The Covid-19 pandemic beginning in March 2020 began several months of intense contracting activity by government departments. By mid-January 2021, the UK government had awarded £21.6 bn worth 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
DESPITE MOUNTING OPPOSITION the Board of Directors at Homerton University Hospital Foundation Trust (HUHFT) in Hackney, east London looks set to ink a further five-year contract for ‘soft facility’ management … Read more
PAUL EVANS – director of the NHS Support Federation, comments Millions of patients had their treatment put on hold whilst the NHS battled Covid-19, and waited with considerable anxiety not knowing when … Read more
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
According to NHS figures, around half of all NHS trusts have outsourced their pharmacy services to save tax under a VAT loophole. Under the current tax law, NHS Trusts have … Read more
NHS workers in West Yorkshire are striking against a plan to transfer porters, cleaners and other support staff to a ‘wholly-owned subsidiary’ called Bradford Healthcare Facilities Management Ltd on 1 … Read more
The Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) discovered that changes to NHS pension tax has resulted in staff scrapping waiting list initiatives, forcing trusts to outsource at a “significantly higher … Read more
NHS are struggling to fulfil the needs of 4.23 million people in England waiting for a hip operation in March alone, with this figure on the increase. The number of … Read more
The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch has warned, in a report published today, that private finance initiative contracts and cost pressures could present a “systemic barrier” for trusts responding to patient … Read more
