Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust recently discovered at least 1,000 cases were being returned to the trust from independent provider Omnes Healthcare following “complications” with a pathway for ear, … Read more
Commissioning
An ICB has decided to re-tender an APMS contract currently run by Operose Health, following concerns around overuse of non-GP staff. North Central London ICB will not renew the contract … Read more
One of the Conservatives’ biggest ever donors has profited from £135m of contracts with the Department of Health and Social Care in under four years. Frank Hester, a healthcare tech … Read more
openDemocracy reports that the former head of MI6 introduced Palantir to a top government official in the Cabinet Office a year before the US spy tech firm won a £27m … Read more
The Guardian reports that Rishi Sunak is facing questions over a possible conflict of interest after it emerged that a private healthcare firm handed a government contract to reduce regional … Read more
OpenDemocracy reports that emails it has seen show that US spy-tech firm Palantir was a shoo-in for a multi-million-pound NHS contract months before the deal was signed. The email exchange … 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
An international private equity firm has bought up a UK-based agency that employs NHS doctors and nurses outside their contracted hours – to do “insourcing” work in NHS hospitals, reports the Financial Times. … Read more
HSJ reports that NHS England has awarded Palantir a new £24.9m contract to “transition” its existing NHS projects into the new federated data platform – a £480m deal expected to … Read more
The (£ paywalled) Times has reported that one of the outcomes of Rishi Sunak’s controversial taskforce on boosting NHS contracts with private hospitals will be a new push to persuade patients to … Read more
Practice Plus Group (PPG) is taking legal action against NHS England over the award of contracts for prison healthcare in the South West, lodging papers with the High Court alleging one … 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
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
Staff and patients at Withnell Health Centre have won their campaign, – followed recently inThe Lowdown), against Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), which has now agreed to … Read more
Luxe Lifestyle, a lifestyle company, was awarded a £25.8m government contract for PPE through the so-called VIP lane after the new Conservative chair, Greg Hands, was approached by a local Tory … Read more
The Observer reports that some of the country’s most senior NHS clinicians are running private firms that offer to cut waiting lists at their own hospitals. Top consultants in Manchester, Sheffield and … 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
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) finally published their annual report and accounts for 2021-22 at the end of January – but were rapped over the knuckles for … Read more
