Social enterprises must disassociate from profit-driven NHS suppliers

Cheap is not always cheerful

Corporations focused only on profits are frustrating efforts by social enterprises to provide NHS services, say those involved in the sector

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• SA Mathieson
• Guardian Professional, Tuesday 14 June 2011 14.39 BST
• Article history

Many people would not want to see their local hospital run by a profit-driven company, according to Allison Ogden-Newton, the chief executive of Social Enterprise London.

"What we're selling is another private sector model," she said of staff-owned firms that make a profit but which are primarily driven by serving the public.

"We do want to disassociate ourselves from the stack it high, sell it cheap and do something stupid with the profits like give it to very few people," she told Smart Healthcare Live.

Ali Parsa, chief executive of healthcare provider Circle which is half-owned by its staff, said that he thought issues of trust in the private sector had been "hijacked", pointing out that most GPs are private suppliers to the NHS. "And they are loved by the public," he said.

Parsa also announced that Circle Holdings, an investment arm, this morning successfully listed on the stock exchange with a value of around £100m, providing funding for his firm.

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