Byline Times: Revealed: Five Politically-Connected Healthcare Giants Rake in NHS Contracts Worth Billions
“Five politically-connected healthcare giants have profited from a share of public contracts worth at least £70 billion – despite a murky history of scandals and regulatory violations, a new report reveals.
Corporate Watch, a corporate-critical grassroots research organisation, spent several months delving into government procurement data on Bridgepoint, Bupa, Centene, Spire, UnitedHealth Group (UHG) and their myriad of subsidiaries.
In partnership with Good Jobs First, researchers targeted these companies because all five are members of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network – a lobbying group with close links to Rishi Sunak’s post-pandemic Elective Recovery Taskforce, which has effectively ‘turbo-charged’ private healthcare capacity.
During the past 10 years, these firms won a share of public health and social care contracts with a combined value of £70.59 billion, with serious questions also emerging about the opacity of reported contracts, as well as the integrity and reliability of the data made publicly available.”
Read the full report at the Byline Times.