Privatisation of healthcare results in a reduction in quality of care according to a review paper published this week (1 March 2024) in The Lancet. The study’s authors from the University … Read more
John Hutton signed off thirteen NHS Private Finance Initiative (PFI) building projects as a Labour health minister in 2002 (see footnote). Last month he was appointed to speak up for private sector investors ahead … Read more
An investigation by HSJ has found that up to 20 per cent of NHS elective patients are now being treated by private hospitals in some areas. There has been an … Read more
Hammersmith & Fulham Save Our NHS (HAFSON) campaigners in North West London have told The Lowdown of a brewing row over leaked plans to force through a wholesale reorganisation of … Read more
Hundreds of thousands of cancer patients in the UK are being forced to pay for private treatment amid record NHS waiting times, according to data obtained by the Guardian. The proportion of … Read more
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
The president of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists has sparked a row with independent sector bosses after warning ophthalmology risks becoming largely privatised unless NHS England radically changes the specialty’s … Read more
The latest figures from the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) make worrying reading for private hospital bosses, with no sign of the long-expected boost in numbers of patients dipping in to savings … Read more
The giant American health corporation Centene has now completed a divestment of all its health care investments in England by selling off its subsidiary Operose, which had controversially acquired 60 GP … Read more
Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board is advertising a contract worth around £1.8bn in what will represent a major shake-up of community health services, and the … Read more
Patients are coming to serious harm by a lack of regulation of the private companies in the homecare medicines sector, according to a damning report by the House of Lords Public … Read more
The Guardian has revealed that the NHS is to hand a key role in handling patient data and share of a £480m contract to the US spy technology firm Palantir. … Read more
More evidence is emerging on the failure of the private hospital sector to make the expected gains from the chronic crisis of the NHS and its lengthening waiting lists. Far … 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
A survey by Pulse has found that soaring use of private healthcare for tests and treatments is piling pressure on overstretched GP surgeries, with family doctors warning that standard NHS care … 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 15 year workforce strategy is to be developed for social care by Skills for Care, the workforce development body, in an effort to address the ongoing crisis in the workforce. The … Read more
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
