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Five firms want to run hospital NHS hospital to be privately run
(about 3 hours later)
The withdrawal from bidding by an NHS Trust has left five private health providers in the running to manage a debt-ridden hospital in Cambridgeshire. A failing hospital looks set to become the first of its kind to be run by a private firm, after the only NHS bidder withdrew from the race to manage it.
Cambridge University Hospitals Trust has withdrawn from the bidding process to run Hinchingbrooke Hospital. Five private health providers are still vying to manage Hinchingbrooke district general in Cambridgeshire.
It means it will become the first NHS hospital of its kind in the UK to be run by a private firm. A boss from the East of England health authority denied the move amounted to the privatisation of the service.
Hinchingbrooke has had an NHS loan to underwrite its £40m debt which any incoming company would help to repay. But a health union warned the hospital was part of a "dangerous experiment" involving bidders with no experience.
The East of England health authority denied the move amounted to the privatisation of Hinchingbrooke. £40m debt
The health authority's director of strategy, Stephen Dunn, said all the companies in the contest had provided elective surgery, such as knee and hip replacements, to NHS patients in treatment centres.
He said: "The NHS remains firmly part of this process. Staff and assets will remain in the NHS. They are not being sold.
This is not about selling the family silver. This is not about privatisation Dr Stephen DunnThis is not about selling the family silver. This is not about privatisation Dr Stephen Dunn
Director of strategy Stephen Dunn said that all the companies in the race had provided elective surgery, such as knee and hip replacements, to NHS patients in treatment centres. "This is not about selling the family silver. This is not about privatisation. These worries are just unfounded."
One, he said, had enlisted neighbouring Peterborough and Stamford NHS Trust as a clinical partner in its bid. But a spokeswoman for health union Unison said it was a waste of public money to go through a process of "market testing" just as Hinchingbrooke started making progress.
Dr Dunn said:"The NHS remains firmly part of this process." She said she was worried most private sector companies did not know how to run a hospital with intensive care, maternity and emergency services.
"Staff and assets will remain in the NHS. They are not being sold." "The experience in the UK is that when you have an emergency in a private sector hospital it is transferred to the NHS. This is a dangerous experiment," she said.
He added: "This is not about selling the family silver. This is not about privatisation. These worries are just unfounded." Earlier this week Cambridge University Hospitals Trust withdrew from the race to run the large, debt-ridden hospital in Huntingdon from April 2011.
'A dangerous experiment' A spokesman for the Trust said: "The competitive bidding process will involve considerable investment in both time and money.
But Karen Jennings, health spokeswoman for union Unison, said: "Hinchingbrooke is actually under new management and starting to make progress, so it's a real waste of public money to go through this process of market testing. "Continuing to take part would have an impact on services at Addenbrooke's and The Rosie. Accordingly, we have decided to withdraw from the project."
Ms Jennings said she was worried that most private sector companies did not know how to run a hospital with intensive care, maternity and emergency services in particular. Any incoming company would have to help repay an NHS loan being used to underwrite the hospital's £40m debt.
She said: "The experience in the UK is that when you have an emergency in a private sector hospital it is transferred to the NHS. This is a dangerous experiment."
Any new company would take over running Hinchingbrooke Hospital in April 2011.