A continuing barrage of misinformation on the supposed boom in private medical treatment as a result of the soaring NHS waiting lists has continued into the summer ‘silly season’ for … Read more
private providers
The NHS was set up to be a universal health service, covering the whole population, providing care according to clinical need, not ability to pay, and funded from general taxation. … Read more
The digital health company Babylon Health is set to withdraw from the New York Stock Exchange and become a private company again as its leading creditor AlbaCore Capital LLP, takes … Read more
Sky News has reported on a report in The Times that patients will soon be able to use the NHS app to opt for private hospital treatment in an effort … Read more
Two weeks ago, the Lowdown took a detailed look at the situation of the private healthcare sector. We were seeking to understand why – after 13 years of policies promoting privatisation and … Read more
The wife of a Neil O’Brien, a Conservative health minister, works for a private firm that has been handed NHS contracts, it has been revealed. Neil O’Brien’s spouse is GP engagement lead … Read more
OpenDemocracy reports that the private hospital sector saw 6.6% fewer people in 2022 than 2019, despite lucrative contracts to fix wait lists. The government handed almost half a billion pounds … Read more
According to a recent report in the (£paywalled) Times, Rishi Sunak’s so-called “elective recovery task force,” steered no doubt by its private sector participants, is planning new legislation this summer … Read more
NHS figures analysed by The Independent have found that a single children’s mental health hospital with just 59 beds reported more than 1,600 “sexual safety incidents” in four years. The … Read more
With no long-term NHS workforce strategy on the horizon, the government’s default policy on slashing elective waiting lists – pushing more NHS patients towards private hospitals dependent on NHS-trained staff … Read more
At the end of last year Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting decided to wind up Labour supporters and delight Telegraph readers by proposing increased use of the private … Read more
The Mirror reports on the connections between Tory MPs, lords and even Downing Street advisers and private healthcare, showing how they have been shamelessly accepting money from private healthcare firms … Read more
The Guardian reports that Gordon Sanders, a multimillionaire dementia home boss, paid himself at least £21m in five years despite inspectors finding multiple breaches of staffing, safety and leadership rules, … Read more
Byline Times reports that companies that were referred by Conservative MPs and peers to the expedited ‘VIP’ lane for personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts during the pandemic have seen their … Read more
An investigation by The Independent and Sky News has found that children have been left traumatised by abuse at The Huntercombe Group of hospitals (now Active Care Group). The investigation … Read more
Woodbourne Priory Hospital, in Edgbaston, a private hospital providing mental health services, has been rated ‘inadequate’ by a health watchdog following an inspection prompted by a young patient’s preventable death. … Read more
Somerset Foundation Trust has partnered with Alliance Medical for its Taunton Diagnostic Centre. The previous private partner, Rutherford Health, went into liquidation in June 2022. The centre only opened in … Read more
The Good Law Project has revealed for the first time the full list of VIP Test and Trace firms given priority treatment, following a longstanding Freedom of Information battle with … Read more
NHS England has revealed plans to crack down on poor care being provided by mental health service providers. The organisation has told HSJ of a new quality programme that focuses on … Read more
Privatisation of the NHS has been found to correspond to a decline in care quality and “significantly” increased deaths from treatable causes, according to a study from researchers at the … Read more
