Public Health: UK government issues invitation to invest in labour supply company

The UK's National Health Service used to be a single, cohesive unit managed in a mix of central and local control.

However, that idea went by the board as the NHS was (in theory) broken up and managed locally by "NHS Trusts."

The scheme appeared quite a good idea - until the management of health care became a matter of accounting, targets and budgets more than the provision of universal health care. Government intervention increased, demanding specific priorities, ordering what drugs could - and could not - be prescribed. Cancer? No budget for drugs; IVF? How many tries would you like? Recuperation after an operation? Out you go after two or three days; "talking therapies?" Sure, hundreds of "therapists" would be recruited.

Out go medics in favour of social workers.

It's a surprise to discover that many of the staff engaged across the NHS landscape are not directly engaged by the trusts. NHS Professionals is a limited company wholly owned by the Department of Health. It is the largest provider of managed flexible services to the NHS, with a national bank of approximately 50,000 workers. It provides workers for more than two million shifts a year and recruits approximately 1,000 flexible workers to the bank every month.

In short, it's a government-owned temp agency.

NHS Professionals currently works with over 77 acute, mental health, foundation and primary care trusts. It provides a range of services, including nursing, medical, Allied Healthcare Professional and Administrative and Clerical staff to Trusts across England.

And now, the new UK government wants NHS Professionals to be part of the new policy of converting government owned assets to capital or revenue: something that was alien to the Blair / Brown governments which operated a centralisation-by-stealth scheme under which more and more aspects of life were transferred into direct government control.

But there's a potential problem. A Prior Information Notice has been published in the Official Journal of theEuropean Union seeking potential investors from the private sector.

The question arises as to whether this is a lawful activity under securities laws. The general principle is that it is illegal to seek investment in a private company except in very limited circumstances. A public offering that does not fall within those exceptions will often result in serious penalty for those who are convicted of the various offences related to the conduct.

One presumes someone in government has thought that through.