In the face of rising waiting lists government policy has aimed to increase the role of the independent sector in tackling these record delays, but as a Lowdown analysis of … Read more
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
The latest (September) figures from the private sector’s own official source, the Private Healthcare Information Network, confirm yet again how limited has been the growth in private hospitals’ inpatient caseload – despite … Read more
A coroner has warned that a private hospital is relying on NHS ambulances to transport patients despite “being fully aware” of the pressures on the ambulance service and resulting delays. The warning … Read more
Matthew Gould, the former head of NHS digital policy has been appointed to the advisory board of Quantexa, a leading UK data technology company. Matthew Gould was originally hired to head … Read more
Cygnet Healthcare, a private provider of mental health services, has been ordered to pay more than £1.5m – the largest fine issued for such a case – after pleading guilty … 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
Babylon Health’s administrators have confirmed that two of the company’s divisions have been sold to US digital health business eMed, after an earlier bid to merge the group with Swiss … 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
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
Centene, a major US health insurer, has just agreed to sell off its largest British acquisition, Circle Healthcare, which owned the UK’s biggest chain of private hospitals. The US corporation’s … 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
The Guardian reports that patients who face long NHS waiting lists and cannot afford to go private are being encouraged to sign up for “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) deals … 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
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
The Guardian reports that the UK government is unlikely to recover any money from a healthcare recruitment agency that allegedly failed to deliver on a multimillion-pound PPE contract awarded during … Read more
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
