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(Not satire – unfortunately)
(UPDATE – another private company ISS, not INTERSERVE are running the ICR services. My mistake.)
In yet more privatisation of the NHS, three more NHS Trusts have just handed their services over to a private company – Interserve.
I’m not sure anyone’s noticed, or is even all that interested, but another private company ISS has also taken over the running of the Royal Marsden NHS Trust which specialises in cancer care – and included in the deal was the world renowned UK Institute of Cancer Research.
The ICR is (was?) one of the world’s most influential cancer research institutes and has (had?) charitable status. It is (was?) listed as one of the top four cancer centres in the world. It operates (operated?) as a charitable status and in its mission statement it states (stated?) that its research is for public benefit not private profit:
We are committed to carrying out research which leads to the relief of human suffering from cancer in such a way that it can be exploited to its maximum potential for the benefit of the public.
Considering that a mission statement is part of the ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION according to the THE COMPANIES ACT 2006, I would have thought there were serious legal implications to a casual transfer of charitable and public assets to a private company.
I hope someone with more legal knowledge than me is on the case. I can’t be the only person to have noticed this. Can I?
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Related articles by Tom Pride:
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The media is wrong. The LDs didn’t rebel against the NHS bill.
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Reblogged this on retiredandangry and commented:
Welcome to Interserve, the G4S of the NHS
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Reblogged this on Vox Political and commented:
I seem to recall that people with terminal cancer, who took the Coalition/Atos work capability assessment, were told they were fit for work. I’m wondering if this sale of cancer research to the private sector is an attempt to justify those decisions retrospectively. Sort of: “We’ll get our buddies in private enterprise to rubber-stamp it and then we’ll be off the hook!” Of course, Interserve is likely to make millions out of this as cancer affects one in three of us. Perhaps it’s time to look up the list of MPs’ interests and find out who has shares?
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Chairman of Interserve, Lord Blackwell, is a board member of the Centre for Policy Studies, yet another Tory Think Tank intent on changing everything that is good about this country
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What a fucking disgrace – I hope someone picks up on this as well
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Thanks for the reblogs guys. Hope more people realise what’s happening.
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Surprise bloody surprise.
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I hope so. Don’t hold out much hope though.
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Ben Goldacre’s new book charts exactly why privatising health research and big Pharma is a dangerous and counterproductive move for humanity. And the reason why we need a nationalised or not for profits pharmaceutical industry!
Apart from all of the inevitable consequences of private pharma profiteering and hiding unfavourable data, effective drugs are not developed for diseases of poor people and even more terrifyingly, given increasing bacterial resistance, they’re not developing new antibiotics because there’s no money in it!! We are in danger of returning to a pre-antibiotic world.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/sep/21/drugs-industry-scandal-ben-goldacre
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Yeah! and I expect you will find a lot of Pharmaceutical company directors holding shares too?
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The issue, for me, is that members of Parliament are corruptly voting for something that will not benefit the public in any way but will bring them – personally – huge profits.
Pharmaceutical company directors can do what they want, in the same way the rest of us can; they’re not changing the system to benefit themselves.
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Big Bad Pharma is getting a Big Bad Name at the moment….”Call our friend David at Westminster”, he will always help his ”old pals” out. Diversification can extend Profits and spread the ”no-gooders” far and wide….
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Is this the beginning of the end or merely the end of the beginning? The omens are not good.
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the detail is less immediately alarming – the Interserve contract is to run the facilities of the trusts involved, rather than any interference in the research programs being carried out. Still not ideal by a long mark – the trusts could have started their own facilities hub as a group venture, thus keeping control and financial benefits inhouse.
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Have you been in touch with Dr Eoin Clarke, (@DrEoinClarke on twitter), he may be very interested if he doesn’t already know as he’s doing a lot of reporting on NHS privatisation.
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Don’t worry – I know Eoin very well. 🙂
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Hi Tom,
Good stuff – but I thought ISS had taken over Royal Marsden and it was mostly catering, cleaning, etc… not core health services in this instance, but I may be wrong.
In the case of services like this, it’s probably OK to outsource so long as there’s a fair bidding process and no conflict of interest (the latter being most topical). It doesn’t affect health services themselves, but does need proper regulation, something this generation of Tories isn’t too bothered about (even Thatcher wanted regulation and standards in privatisation!)
On Interserve, they are owned by a Tory peer, which makes the awarding of contracts even more corrupt: http://eoin-clarke.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/tory-peers-firm-gains-300000000.html – even Serco who lost out are significant donors to the Tory Party. Personally, I’d rather have a unions-funded party (erm, Labour?) building up the public service as opposed to a corporate-funded party building up their friends’ bank accounts (and their own, of course).
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Reblogged this on Representing the Mambo and commented:
Rather surprised this isn’t being discussed more widely. Very, very worrying developments.
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