Privatisation has long been held up as a panacea to the NHS’s problems. The first ‘PFI’ (Private Finance Initiative) schemes in the 90s were hailed as a possible solution to … Read more
accountability
A Midlands clinical commissioning group is locked in a contract dispute with Virgin Care over a controversial “prime provider” contract awarded last year, HSJ has learned. East Staffordshire CCG disagrees with “contractual … Read more
Campaigners have said they will fight to reopen an Oxfordshire doctor’s surgery forced to close. Witney’s Deer Park practice will close later, leaving 4,000 people to look for new doctors. … Read more
Commissioners in Sussex paid a total of £642,000 in wages to former NHS staff after their private company employer ceased trading, HSJ can reveal. Alan Beasley, the chief finance officer for High … Read more
Lewisham and Greenwich Trust stands to lose up to £6.6m of revenue over five years unless Circle Health, the winner of a musculoskeletal contract for Greenwich, contracts it to deliver … Read more
The NHS is spending millions on private companies that stop GPs referring patients to hospitals, an investigation has revealed. Controversial “referral management centres” are supposed to cut costs and improve the quality of GP … Read more
A “catalogue of failures” resulted in the collapse of an £800 million NHS contract to outsource care of older and mentally ill people, the Commons spending watchdog warned. An influential committee of … Read more
An investigation into the five biggest firms providing homecare services in the UK has found millions of pounds has been paid to some owners amid a crisis in standards of … Read more
An MP has called on NHS managers to resolve problems with primary care in her constituency after the announcement that a practice will close just a year after a new … Read more
GP support services remain a ‘chaotic mess’ despite nearly a year passing since NHS England outsourced the services to Capita, the GPC has warned. The GPC said that the Government … Read more
Some 27,000 patients are at risk of losing their GP practice as a provider has decided to hand back a contract it says is ‘not fit for purpose’. Greenbrook Healthcare, … Read more
A trust has said it has no plans to pull out of its contract for a troubled radiology information system, shortly after its leaders considered terminating the deal early. A … Read more
Nurses at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust are having to clean wards after cleaners from a private company in order to maintain standards, the trust board has said. At a meeting … Read more
There was a “gap” in commissioners’ assurance process for an urgent care contract with Care UK and the provider’s staffing model was flawed, a review has found. The report by Verita, published … Read more
Family doctors have criticised the “shambles” that has ensued after the firm Capita was handed a £700m contract to provide important backup services to GP surgeries across England. GP practices … Read more
Virgin Care has been named preferred provider to provide adult community services in the South of England as part of an alliance contract, ahead of a bid from local trusts … Read more
An out of hours provider has been forced to end provision of services across the East Midlands after it announced it intends to file for administration. Central Nottinghamshire Clinical Services … Read more
Vital primary care support services are in “meltdown” after NHS England contracted them out to Capita last year, prompting anger among providers toward the contractor and the national body. The … Read more
The GPC has told NHS managers that every practice should be compensated for the significant extra workload they have had to take on as a result of the ‘systematic failure’ … Read more
A 16,000 patient practice has been left on a short-term interim contract after six of the seven APMS providers invited by NHS England to tender for the contract pulled out … Read more
