David Rowland on the presence of private equity in the UK health and care market If you are in a vulnerable situation in the UK because of your age, personal … Read more
privatisation
New regulations will reduce some forms of outsourcing in the NHS, but there are significant gaps which a UNISON campaign is aiming to fix. A reduction in the competitive tendering … Read more
The latest Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts (2022-23) have updated the published figures on NHS spending on private sector and non-NHS providers. They show that the private … Read more
Lowdown readers will have seen the widespread outrage about the latest revelations around Horizon and the Post Office, but many who have campaigned against privatisation and outsourcing won’t be too … Read more
Competitive tendering for contracts in the NHS is set to reduce significantly once the new framework for the procurement of health services – the Provider Selection Regime (PSR) – launches in January … Read more
HSJ reports that experts have warned that the drive to cut NHS waiting lists is becoming ‘disproportionately reliant’ on the private sector, as new data suggests rapid growth in the … Read more
A barrage of publicity surrounded the publication last week of the long-awaited report of Rishi Sunak’s 17-strong “taskforce” on elective recovery, which was set up last December. There was no … Read more
The BBC reports that ministers want to unlock spare capacity to get more people the treatment and operations they need. This includes opening eight privately-run diagnostic centres and using new … Read more
The takeover of healthcare services by private equity funds is associated with a worse quality of care and higher costs, according to the largest study ever undertaken on the effect … 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
A January HSJ article has confirmed what trade union representatives and Labour MPs have repeatedly argued: that the creation of ‘wholly owned’ sub companies by NHS Trusts (and FTs) was in almost every case, … 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
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
The private cancer diagnostic and treatment company Rutherford Health has been placed into liquidation. Only eight months ago the opening of a new community diagnostics hub (CDH) within a partnership between … Read more
The chair of the RCGP has warned that there is a ‘real threat’ that general practice will face the same fate as dentistry in the UK – where a growing … Read more
Campaigners have been reacting to the government decision to flog off the Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC), which is being built near Oxford with over £215m of taxpayers’ money, … Read more
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve learnt a number of incredibly important lessons on public health. We’ve learnt the UK government was woefully and unnecessarily unprepared to handle a pandemic of … Read more
While NHS resources are facing a renewed and tightening financial squeeze, the limited funds available are more likely than ever to be diverted to paying for services in private hospitals … Read more