The author of PFI contracts, ripping off NHS hospitals, has had a lucrative few years. His company has just one employee and more than £4.9m in the bank
The potential appointment of Alan Milburn as an NHS reform "fixer" in a future Keir Starmer government has raised significant concerns due to his extensive involvement in the private healthcare sector.
Milburn, a former Labour health secretary under Tony Blair, has since built a profitable career through his consultancy firm, AM Strategy Ltd. This company, which is majority owned by Milburn and includes his family as minority stakeholders, has generated over £8 million primarily from private healthcare consultancy roles. The firm has also accumulated more than £4.9 million in cash, despite having only one employee.
Milburn's return to a governmental role has alarmed healthcare campaigners who fear that his private sector ties could influence NHS reforms to benefit private companies. He holds several notable positions, such as chairing PricewaterhouseCooper’s health industries oversight board and advising Bridgepoint Capital, a private equity group involved with NHS service providers and care homes.
This company has already been involved as a consultant to the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board and produced a report on how the ICB can cut the number of hospitals on Merseyside, with specific target of the Liverpool Women’s Hospital that the ICS and predecessors have been trying to shut down for years!
His previous tenure as health secretary was marked by support for NHS outsourcing and Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deals, which were controversial for their long-term financial implications, which many see as having plunged the NHS into more debt.
Furthermore, tens of thousands of pounds of the NHS budget is going to private consultants being used by the 42 Integrated Care Systems and their boards, which has replaced a national service of healthcare under the falsehood of the NHS logo!
Critics, like Julia Patterson from the NHS campaign group Every Doctor, argue that Milburn's involvement signals a troubling "revolving door" between political roles and private consultancy, potentially compromising public trust in the NHS's direction under Starmer's leadership.
Julia Patterson, who leads NHS campaign group Every Doctor, said “a lot of people are deeply concerned to see Alan Milburn tipped to play an influential role in Starmer’s government, and for good reason.”
“It is deeply concerning to witness the revolving door between political operators and private sector consultancy. Starmer needs to ask himself what message he is delivering to the public, by considering involving someone so linked to the private health sector in his plans.”
Despite these concerns, Milburn has not yet responded to any requests from media sources for comment regarding his prospective government role.
As with so much of Labour’s involvement with business lobbyists and leaders, secrecy seems to be the main tactic in ensuring a placid public as they go about turning the NHS into a business run service as in the US healthcare system!
YOU CAN EXPECT MORE OF THIS UNDER LABOUR'S PLANS
Source: Democracy For Sale / EveryDoctor / unionsafety
