Labour accuses government of pushing through NHSP deal 'behind closed doors’
The Labour Party is calling for an inquiry into government's sale of a majority stake in NHS Professionals.
In a letter, seen by Recruiter, shadow health minister Justin Madders calls on independent Parliamentary body the National Audit Office, which is responsible for auditing central government departments, to look into the partial sale of the agency.
The government announced last November that it was seeking to privatise NHSP, and was looking for an investor to take a majority stake in the agency, with a tendering process launched through an advert in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).
But ahead of the completion of a deal, which could come as early as September, Madders has written to Sir Amyas Morse, NAO’s comptroller and auditor general, asking him to intervene before any sale of NHSP takes place.
Madders calls on Morse to “ascertain a better understanding of what additionality the private sector can bring to what, on the face of it, is already a successful organisation” and “fundamentally, what is it about the investment and return on it that has to be done by the private sector”.
He also raises concerns that government could sell NHSP in its entirety at a later date, and should the Department of Health finalise the sale by the end of August, during the Parliamentary summer recess, MPs would be denied proper scrutiny of the deal. “This deal is being pushed through behind closed doors,” he adds in his letter.
In a statement, a Department of Health spokesperson said: “Last year, agency spend came down by £700m, and NHS Professionals helps by saving £70m a year by supplying staff to hospitals at more affordable rates.
“Our objective is to improve patient care by reducing agency spend, and our decisions will be focused on that objective.”
Earlier this week, Staffline CEO Andy Hogarth confirmed the outsourcing, training and employability organisation has bid for a controlling stake in NHSP and expects to find out when Parliament returns from summer recess if this bid has been successful.
When approached by Recruiter, Staffline said it could not comment on the shadow health minister’s letter.
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