Tag: UnitingCare

Questions around a failed £800 million NHS outsourcing experiment

It became clear that costs were emerging which the CCG hadn’t anticipated, and which it said it could not fund.

17:22 Thursday 21st January 2016
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: One of the big stories of the last few weeks in the county is to do with the NHS, and that is the failed £800 million older people’s health contract. Cambridgeshire county councillors have finally been allowed to question the Chief Executives of the two trusts involved. UnitingCare was owned by the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, in other words Addenbrookes, and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust. The contract was the biggest outsourcing of services in NHS history. It failed last months after just eight months of its proposed five year tenure. Well the BBC Look East Political Reporter Tom Barton has been at today’s meeting and joins me in the studio now. Hello Tom.
TOM BARTON: Good afternoon Chris.
CHRIS MANN: Extraordinary story when it happened of course, out of the blue, suddenly this contract torn up. It had taken so long to put together. So we’ve been waiting for answers for several weeks now. What’s happened today?
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Outsourcing of Cambridgeshire elder care – transfer is just a fortnight away

07:07 Friday 20th March 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Here’s our lead story this morning. Concerns raised about a ground-breaking Cambridgeshire NHS health contract. It’s due to take effect in two weeks time. It’s worth £800 million, and is the biggest single outsourcing of an NHS service in its history. On 1st April the contract to look after older people across the county will be managed and maintained by a brand new company called UnitingCare. It’s made up of a consortium between Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the CPFT. In a moment we’ll be talking to two people who’ve raised concerns about the changes, but first here’s part of a video, produced by United Care that’s been posted on their website, which explains what they do.
(AUDIO)
(MALE VOICE 1) We’re looking after an increasingly aging population with more complex diseases, more co-morbities. Now what we want to do is provide really joined up care for them.
(MALE VOICE 2) Care of older people is often badly affected by the fact that several organisations are trying to be involved, and that people fall between the cracks in the service, and often end up with care of the last resort in hospital.
(FEMALE VOICE 1) Working within an integrated partnership will allow us to provide consistency across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and that service will be available to everybody across that area, which is important.
(LIVE)
CHRIS MANN: So glossy video, very slick website, but is it all really as good as that, and how is the changeover going to happen? Concerns raised first of all by Steve Sweeney, who’s Regional Officer of the GMB Union. Hello Steve.
STEVE SWEENEY: Good morning.
CHRIS MANN: And thousands of your members will be involved in this.
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