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The BBC are reporting (Tuesday, 3 January 2006, 10:03 GMT):
Quote:
Moves to farm out NHS work to private firms must be watched to prevent damage to other hospital services, a public spending watchdog has said.
The warning comes from James Strachan, who is stepping down as chairman of the Audit Commission later in January.
He says outsourcing significant slices of NHS work will have implications for the remaining services.
Somebody within the health service must take responsibility for checking the bigger picture, argues Mr Strachan.
He also suggests the pace of reorganisation in the NHS should slow down and says it is "nonsense" to say the public sector cannot be as cost effective as private firms. ...
To add to the above, the BBC are now reporting:
US giant takes over GP practices
Quote:
A giant US health firm is to take over GP services in Derbyshire, starting what is expected to be a new era of private sector involvement in the NHS.
The European arm of United Health has been chosen by local health chiefs to run two practices.
A white paper is expected later this month on out-of-hospital care
A giant US health firm is to take over GP services in Derbyshire, starting what is expected to be a new era of private sector involvement in the NHS.
The European arm of United Health has been chosen by local health chiefs to run two practices.
The move comes as the government prepares to unveil new plans for NHS community services later this month.
Ministers have already indicated they want more private and voluntary sector involvement in NHS community services.
To date, private firms have largely been interested in providing hospital services for the NHS, by 2008 they are expected to carry out one in 10 non-emergency operations.
But Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt said she wants to see alternative providers come into the NHS community market to help improve access to services in the most deprived areas.
The push will form a central plank of the forthcoming white paper on out-of-hospital care.
UnitedHealth Europe is not the first firm to run NHS GP services, but the few practices that are run privately are the exception rather than the rule.
North Eastern Derbyshire Primary Care Trust choose UnitedHealth Europe from a shortlist of six bids.
The company's president is Simon Stevens, Tony Blair's former health adviser.
The details of the contract are still being ironed out, but the deal on offer is to run a practice in the village of Creswell and another in Derby.
Tendering
PCT chief executive Dr Martin McShane said the move should be seen in the context of GPs always being independent contractors since the NHS was set up in 1948.
And he added: "The practices will adhere to NHS principles and values, patients will not see a difference."
The British Medical Association said it was adopting a neutral stance to such moves, saying what was important was that private firms were not given an advantage in the tendering process.
Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the BMA's GPs committee, said: "We want to see patients getting good access to primary care, particularly in under doctored areas.
"Equally we would want to ensure that the bidding processes are not set up so that only large independent providers can compete.
"We don't have enough information to know whether that was the case in Derbyshire."
As a followup, the BBC are reporting:Patient tackles medical 'giant'
Quote:
A Derbyshire patient has started a legal challenge against a move to replace her local GP surgery with one run by a huge health corporation.
Scarcliffe parish councillor Pam Smith has sent a letter to North East Derbyshire Primary Care Trust saying it failed to consult properly.
The trust has chosen United Health Europe (UHE) as its preferred bidder to provide GP services at two surgeries.
It is taking legal advice on Mrs Smith's call for a judicial review.
Mrs Smith's letter says the trust has a statutory obligation to consult if it makes significant changes to NHS services - and asserts that the trust has failed to do this.
A trust spokesman said the service was not being changed, but would not elaborate on that position.
Mrs Smith's letter said handing the GP services to a private company does represent a significant change and should go to judicial review.
She called for more consultation, saying: "We need a meeting where we can all sit and talk about it.
"We may be a deprived area but we want to be treated properly - like human beings.
"Why does a big firm from America want to move into our area when we have local practices here already - why give it to a big firm?"
Final contracts
The company's president is Simon Stevens, Tony Blair's former health adviser.
Dr Elizabeth Barrett, a GP in nearby Creswell who attended a village meeting on the issue on Tuesday evening, said: "I think the community is dead set against it - they are suspicious that a large firm will not serve their interests."
She said final contracts have not been signed between the trust and UHE.
Dr John Lister of the lobby group Keep Our NHS Public said the trust was not following its own criteria on hiring firms to deliver health services.
He said UHE has virtually no experience in providing health services in the UK and called for "greater transparency" in the system used to choose service providers.
He called for the Derbyshire County Council health scrutiny committee to get involved in the process.
'Good move'
But Richard Smith, chief executive of UHE, insisted the company would provide a good service.
"This is a good move for local people. We will be able to bring the practices up to the standard of the best in Britain," he said.
Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has said she wants to see alternative providers to help improve access to services in the most deprived areas.
Warning over private firms in NHS
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