Seven companies – Bramble Hub, Deloitte, EY, KPMG, McKinsey & Co, Newton Europe and PwC – are being paid up to £42m for an initial two-month data contract, amid growing concern over the increasing role played by management consultancies within the health service.
Forming part of health secretary Sajid Javid’s ‘delivery plan’ to clear the surgery waiting list backlog – currently around six million patients – the contract is designed to provide “system planning” to support the elective recovery programme.
It will see up to £500,000 being spent across each NHS England region (presumably each integrated care system) up until 31 March, with an option to extend the project by six months and allocate a further £500k per ICS.
News of the contract emerged earlier this month and coincided with a move by NHS Shared Business Services – a joint venture set up by the Department of Health & Social Care and French outsourcing specialist Sopra Steria – to tender for a new contract worth £500m to create a framework for the provision of IT consultancy, advisory and delivery services to the NHS.
Full story in The Lowdown, 21 February 2022
