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As previously reported by Unionsafety, NHS England and Johnson’s secret No 10 ‘NHS Re-organisation Committee’ is loaded with advisors and bosses of private American and UK healthcare companies. Now the latest appointment to his ‘advisory team’ preparing the NHS for transformation into an American insurance based healthcare system, is that of the outgoing chief executive of Operose Health, the UK subsidiary of US company Centene in the UK; one Samantha Jones.
She will be Johnson’s "expert adviser for NHS transformation and social care", according to the Health Service Journal reports. Johnbosco Nwogbo, campaigns officer at We Own It commented on this latest private healthcare appointee: "It is absolutely shocking that Boris Johnson has hired the CEO of the UK arm of a US health insurance giant as his health advisor.” He added: "It's made all the worse by the fact the company in question - Operose - has just taken over 49 GP practices across London, and whose American wing - Centene - is currently being sued in the USA for allegedly inflating costs and overcharging government departments." He continued: "This is the revolving door of NHS privatisation in action - senior figures in the private health sector take on senior jobs in government and vice versa. The risk here is clear - a former private health company boss advising the government on health policy is unlikely to make the case for a publicly owned and publicly funded NHS. In conclusion he said: It's time to end these cosy connections between government and the private health sector. And it's time to kick the private companies out of our NHS and reinstate it as a fully public service." Source: Health Service Journal
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The US company has bought nearly 1% of GP practises in England and recently bought out a large London-based group of GP practices; 49 in all. This makes it the country's largest provider of NHS primary care services.