Concern as NHS contracts go private

NHS North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus have chosen Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Care as the preferred bidder for contracts worth together £5.5m.

Services are currently provided by North Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Trust – which didn’t put in a tender – and Care Plus, which did.

Around 40 staff will potentially transfer to the new service, which is expected to start by next April.

Dave Monaghan, regional officer for Unite, said: “The NHS is fragmenting like plate glass. It is a shame that yet another service which was provided by the NHS has been awarded to the private sector.”

East Riding councillor Keith Moore added: “I am unhappy with any privatisation of the NHS, whether it is by this Government or a Labour government. The private sector are there to make a profit, the public sector are there to provide a service.”

Associate director of contracting for NHS North Lincolnshire Tim Fowler said users should see a more streamlined service with more patients able to get tested and treated in a single visit.

They are already working with a company linked to Virgin Care called Assura East Riding LLP, which runs a dermatological service in north Lincolnshire. He said: “The feedback from GPs is that it is a good and strong service.”

He added: “NHS organisations have an equal chance to bid. We go through a very robust process and we choose the best irrespective of whether they are NHS or private.”

Virgin Care said they had treated 2.5 million patients since 2006 – well before the Health and Social Care Act. A spokesman said: “The NHS isn’t being eroded. It is not privatisation in the sense that all assets and performance management remain with the NHS. It is still publicly funded, still free at the point of need.”