NHS hospital trusts have been told to stop setting up private companies and transferring staff into them, a move that has provoked strong criticism from health unions and Labour.
NHS Improvement, which regulates the health service’s finances, has ordered England’s 240 trusts to “pause” controversial plans to create any more of the subsidiary companies.
Around 35 trusts have already set up a “subco”, and moved non-medical staff into them, or said they intend to do so. Unions have criticised the trend as a damaging move by trusts to save money which risked leading to a “two-tier” NHS workforce in which some staff were paid less than others, despite doing the same job.
Full Story The Guardian: 20 September 2018
