Healthcare Markets

The National Audit Office (NAO) has highlighted key trends and variations in the delivery of healthcare across the UK. There are considerable variations across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in areas such as health outcomes, spending, staffing and quality. Spending on health services in the UK more than doubled in cash terms in the last decade. The rate of increase has been broadly similar in all four nations but spending per person continues to vary. In 2010-11, despite devoting a higher proportion of total public spending to health, England spent the least on health per person.

The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) first quarterly report shows that 82% of all independent acute and mental health providers are meeting all the CQC’s essential standards.

Philip Scott chief executive of the Priory Group has announced he is to step down. Mr Scott joined the group as chief executive in 2007 and in the course of long term business planning for the group has indicated to the Board he is unable to commit for a further five years.

An administrator has been appointed to the South London Healthcare NHS Trust after it ran into financial trouble last month.

Non-executive directors have been appointed to the NHS Commissioning Board. It was confirmed last month that Lord Adebowale, Margaret Casely-Hayford, Dame Moira Gibb and Naguib Kheraj were set to join the board.

Healthcare Locums has had to make statement regarding the dismissal by plaintiffs of a court case brought against it by investors in the United States and then one about a misunderstanding about the dismissal which the plaintiffs say was not made.

Service users at Cygnet Health Care’s hospital in Beckton, Greater London, have been learning how to interview potential new employees. The scheme is part of mental healthcare and heroin detox provider Cygnet’s strategy to help service users shape the delivery of care at Cygnet facilities. The initiative comes along with the launch of the new Cygnet Health Care website, http://www.cygnethealth.co.uk/, and the roll-out of Cygnet Health Care Welcome Guides manuals describing life at Cygnet Health Care facilities, created with the collaborative input of service users.

MedicX Fund, the specialist primary care infrastructure investor in modern, purpose-built, primary healthcare properties in the United Kingdom, has completed the acquisition of a portfolio of 31 completed and fully let primary care medical centres. The purchase is by way of a corporate acquisition for an initial cash consideration of £16.1 million including transaction costs of £1.6 million, and the assumption of existing debt of £63.8 million.

Virgin Care, the NHS services providers has joined forces with a group of GPs to offer a sexual health service in Oldham. Virgin Care was commissioned by Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which is taking over commissioning responsibility from NHS Oldham, and brings together contraceptive and sexual health services across the local area.

A report by the London School of Economics (LSE) has attacked the NHS for its treatment of mental health patients.