US Company United Health Group Is Embedded In The DHSC England To Develope
Streeting's NHS 10 Year Plan To Mirror US Healthcare System

Optum, a subsidiary of United Health Group, is significantly involved in the Liverpool area through various initiatives and collaborations with the NHS. Optum UK has been working with Liverpool and Sefton Integrated Care Teams to support patients with complex health and social care needs. Optum also utilizes its technology platform, EMIS Web, to facilitate real-time access to patient data, enabling clinicians to share information and collaborate on care plans, as seen in initiatives like the reduction of hospital admissions for diabetic patients, reports Optum. Additionally, Optum is actively involved in the One Liverpool Strategy, a joint effort by health and care organizations to address health inequalities and improve the lives of residents.

Optum also owns the EMIS data system which collates all patient information across the NHS, and shares it with organisations determined by local ICBs and NHS England. Patients who use EMIS, have no choice but to allow their medical data to be shared in this way.

Ultimately, access to it is being given to US healthcare companies or their subsidiaries in the name of speedy patient care, and more importantly, to deny healthcare as is the US system's whole basis of profit making.

Streeting made it clear in his press statement that US companies will be given access to NHS patients Data, in order to allow them to offer medical and pharmaceutical trials ahead of anyone else. In other, words, your patient medical data will be used to offer yourself as a guinea pig to American Big Pharma human trials, and often in place of US citizens, thereby removing them from the harm that many medical trials cause to participants.

Asked if the UK could give ground on US access to the health service, Mr Streeting told Sky News:

"The NHS is not up for grabs and it's not on the table in the context of trade. But there are a number of areas where we can and should work together to deepen the trading relationship between our two countries."

He did not elaborate on which areas could be looked at, but later told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that "in terms of life sciences and medical technology, there's a lot that we've got to offer the United States and there's a lot that we could get from the United States given our two countries' strengths".

NHS patients could be offered up in clinical trials, which in turn would mean British people "are at the front of the queue for those new treatments and technologies" and "that we get a good deal on price".

His view is that there is no reason why NHS patients data cannot be used by US healthcare companies, indeed both EMIS (owned by United Health Group in the US) and the TPA patient data system; are currently providing access to NGS patient records to healthcare researchers. It is not clear, although suspected, that insurance companies are being given access too.

But the biggest role that United Health Group has been given, is to deny healthcare to patients being referred to NHS hospital run services, in favour of private healthcare groups, running various services such as ophthalmology, diabetics eye checks and monitoring.

Liverpool and Wirral are major areas where Optum is running the healthcare model based on US healthcare practices.

Furthermore, it is heavily involved with Liverpool's 'One Liverpool Strategy' which is hell-bent on closing the Liverpool Women's Hospital along with the Cheshire and Merseyside ICB, which has now arranged for joint chairpersonship of 5 Liverpool hospitals under a James Sumner; with the intention of eventually amalgamating all Liverpool's hospitals under one management structure which will determine the healthcare policies and practices of all of Liverpool's Hospitals.

The aim is to cut services and bring them under one hospital only in order to remove duplication of services across the Merseyside area it covers. This will remove patient choice and ensure as much healthcare delivery as can be transferred to the private sector.

Here's a more detailed breakdown from their website, which using corporate speak, tells the complete opposite of what they are actually doing:

Optum's Role in Liverpool Integrated Care Teams (ICTs):

Optum supports ICTs across Liverpool and Sefton by providing a platform for coordinated care, ensuring a comprehensive care plan is developed with the patient at the centre, according to Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

EMIS Web Technology:

Optum's EMIS Web technology is used by clinicians to access shared patient data, promoting a connected and efficient approach to care, according to Optum.

Reducing Hospital Admissions:

Optum has partnered with local health services to reduce hospital admissions, particularly for conditions like diabetes, through initiatives like the Liverpool Diabetes Program, reports Optum:

One Liverpool Strategy:

Optum is involved in the One Liverpool Strategy, a collaborative effort by health and care organizations to reduce health inequalities and improve the overall well-being of residents. 

Key Areas of Focus

Improved Collaboration:

Optum's technology and initiatives aim to improve collaboration among different health and care providers.

Patient-Centered Care:

The focus is on creating a seamless and personalized care experience for patients, with a strong emphasis on patient engagement and input, as explained in the One Liverpool Strategy.

Addressing Health Inequalities:

Optum is actively involved in efforts to reduce health inequalities and improve the quality of life for all residents in Liverpool, according to the One Liverpool Strategy.

Technology and Data Analytics:

Optum utilizes its technology and data analytics to improve care delivery and outcomes.

I reality, Optum is designing a US-based system of healthcare denial and profit building. The main example of this is their involvement in the promotion of policies aimed at closing Liverpool Women's Hospital, which will ensure the opposite of equality in healthcare for women's maternal and gynaecological health in the city.

Specialisms in healthcare will be dissolved and spread across the remainder of Liverpool's hospitals, which are already under funded and under resourced and being run as businesses. Patient health outcomes are compromised just as in the US whose healthcare systems is responsible for the worst and most costly of healthcare systems in comparison to the UK and the EU.

Source: Optum / Emis / NHS / Merseycare

See also: NHS Privatisation News Archive