09.03.15
Plans to outsource £75m of NHS services in Cornwall shelved
Plans to privatise £75m of NHS services in Cornwall have been shelved with the local clinical commissioning group (CCG) saying the plans were “not the way forward”.
Last year, NHS Kernow – the CCG for Cornwall and the Scilly Isles – was asking for bids to run outpatient appointments, follow ups and “non-complex” procedures in cardiology and general surgery.
At the time, the CCG said that services were in need of “modernisation” but has now stated that “competitive procurement” will not deliver what is needed.
The local Unison branch had been campaigning against the privatisation of services, and its recent AGM passed a motion reaffirming this including the threat of industrial action.
Stuart Roden, Unison’s south west regional organiser, said: “We very much welcome this move. We believe that joining up services in an integrated way will improve patient care and protect NHS services.”
Dr Rob White, a member of NHS Kernow’s governing body, told the BBC: “NHS Kernow is challenging itself on what it wants to deliver, what is in patients' best interests and how it can achieve its priorities to improve people's health and wellbeing, improve their experience of care and support and to reduce costs in the system.
“This, combined with a re-focus of where energy is needed in the system, means that a competitive procurement will not deliver what is needed.”
The latest decision was welcomed by patient watchdog Healthwatch Cornwall. Debbie Pritchard, the organisation’s chief executive, said it is good that NHS Kernow are listening to what people are “requiring in their services and taking some note of that”.
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