Full story in The Independent, 13 December 2017
Campaigners have criticised the “galloping privatisation” of health services after Virgin Care was awarded a £108m contract for providing children’s health services in Lancashire.
The decision comes after the NHS made an undisclosed settlement to Virgin Care when it sued a group of NHS bodies in Surrey following its failure to clinch a county-wide children’s services contract worth £85m.
The service is currently delivered by the local Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, whose contract runs until the end of March, but the final deal is in a “stand still” period while the trust decides whether to appeal.