NHS News Update
NHS News Update
Health Investor (26 July 2010)
Lansley claims ISTC programme wasted £300m
NHS Support Federation's Paul Evans has emphasised the importance of equity and quality in the NHS as health secretary Andrew Lansley criticises the last government for wasting £300m on its Independent Sector Treatment Centre programme which could have been provided more cheaply in house rather than privately.
Telegraph (24 July 2010)
Axe falls on NHS services
A Telegraph investigation has uncovered what it says are NHS plans to ration common operations such as hip and knee replacements, reduce acute hospital beds, close nursing homes for the elderly, restrict IVF treatment and axe thousands of jobs. The government had said front line services would be protected.
Telegraph (22 July 2010)
GPs 'could hand' billions of NHS funds to private companies to manage
Under the coalition government's proposed shake-up of the NHS GPs will have to become members of a consortium which will take over responsibility currently held by primary care trusts for commissioning services. It has been revealed that consortia could outsource commissioning, effectively passing control of the NHS budget to private companies.
Mail (20 July 2010)
Sacked NHS managers could simply move to work for GPs
The British Medical Association has called on GPs to use expertise currently found in the NHS to take on their new responsibility for the commissioning budget. With primary care trusts (currently responsible for commissioning) to be scrapped, their employees could transfer to new GP consortia.
Mirror (18 July 2010)
Tory donor's firm will make millions from NHS shake-up
Private healthcare company Care UK is set to benefit from the government's plans to give GPs control of commissioning budgets which could then be managed by the private sector. In November 2009 the wife of Care UK's chairman gave a £21,000 donation to the private office of Andrew Lansley, now health secretary.
