Please visit our new CrowdJustice page for Round 3 at: 

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/jr4nhs-round3/

Jeremy Hunt and NHS England propose allowing private companies to take control of our health and care services. This goes against fundamental NHS principles. Fund our fight to get proper consultation, parliamentary scrutiny and respect for the law. Save our NHS from an American-style take-over.

We have launched Round 2 of our funding appeal. In Round 1, we raised £26,020 in 26.5 hours, which has covered our lawyers’ work up to preparing the case for court. See that episode here https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/jr4nhs/.

Since Round 1, lawyers for the Secretary of State for Health, and for NHS England, have written to our solicitors, rejecting our arguments and saying they will robustly defend any judicial review. Our lawyers have studied these replies and have sent a further letter before action to both of them. We expect to file proceedings in the court shortly.  

Also since Round 1, we are honoured and delighted that Professor Stephen Hawking has joined the case.

What are we seeking and why?

We are seeking a judicial review to stop Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt and NHS England from introducing new commercial, non-NHS bodies to run health and social services without proper public consultation and without full Parliamentary scrutiny.

These non-NHS bodies would be called “Accountable Care Organisations” (“ACOs). They would be governed by company and contract law and can be given “full responsibility” for NHS and adult social services.

ACOs were conceived in the US about twelve years ago. In this short clip, two leading American academics talk about the effect of Accountable Care Organisations and private health care in the US. ACOs are being imported into England although they are not recognised in any Act of Parliament.

ACOs would be able to decide on the boundary of what care is free and what has to be paid for. They will be paid more if they save money. They can include private companies (e.g. Virgin in Frimley, Circle in Nottinghamshire), including private insurance and property companies, which can make money from charging. They could also include GP practices, in which case people on their lists would automatically transfer to the ACO in order to be entitled to services. New patients would also have to register with the ACO. They will be allowed to sub-contract all “their” services.

Against the Public Interest

Such commercial ACOs would fundamentally change the NHS and many could profit from a radical reorganisation of health and social services. They would have control over the allocation of NHS and taxpayers’ money. Their accountability for spending it and their obligations to the public would be under commercial contracts, not statutes. This is not in the public interest.

It is also against the public interest that they are being introduced by stealth, without proper public consultation and without full Parliamentary scrutiny.

Just to be clear. Integration of health and care services is a desirable aim, but not whilst their funding and population bases are so different and without new primary legislation. This affects everyone in England.

Who are we?

Professor Stephen Hawking CH CBE FRS - the world-renowned cosmologist and a long-time proponent of the NHS.

Dr Colin Hutchinson - former Consultant Eye Surgeon in Halifax and Huddersfield and current Executive Committee member of Doctors for the NHS.

Professor Allyson Pollock - public health doctor, Professor of Public Health at Newcastle University, founding member of Keep Our NHS Public, former chair of the NHS Consultants’ Association, and co-author of the NHS Reinstatement Bill.

Professor Sue Richards - former senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office, a Director of the National School of Government and Professor of Public Management at Birmingham University, and co-chair of Keep Our NHS Public.

Dr Graham Winyard CBE - former Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Vice President of the Faculty of Public Health, and Medical Director of the NHS in England where he led the development of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).

We are advised by Harrison Grant Solicitors and Nigel Pleming QC, Jenni Richards QC and Peter Mant of 39 Essex Chambers.

We have also appreciated the assistance of Peter Roderick, co-author of the NHS Reinstatement Bill, and Dr Ben White, Campaign Manager.

What is the Secretary of State and NHS England doing?

The Secretary of State for Health has carried out a consultation on technical changes to regulations in order to facilitate ACOs. But he did this without providing meaningful information about ACOs themselves and without consulting the public or Parliament about what his plans entail.

The technical changes include suspending GP contracts so that they - and their patients - can transfer to the ACO.  They also provide, for the first time, a definition of an “ACO” which confirms that they could be private companies.

The correspondence makes clear that the Secretary of State and NHS England intend that the first ACOs should come into being as soon as regulations are passed and before there has been public consultation.

We say that the Secretary of State and NHS England are obliged to consult and that ACOs lie outside the framework of the current legislation.

We also say that the decision to introduce them in this way is contrary to their duty of transparency in decision making in the NHS.

What do we need for Round 2?

Stage 1, filing claim and permission: £24,000. This is the amount (£20,000 plus VAT) we need to cover all the work up to the point the Court takes a decision on the papers about granting or refusing permission.  

Stage 2, hearings: it is impossible at this moment to know exactly what course the case will take. We need to have sufficient funds to cover the substantive hearing but also to be able to respond to all potential eventualities - such as permission being refused. For now, we estimate that an additional £120,000 (including VAT) would enable us to see the case through to a substantive hearing and judgment, and so we have a Round 2 stretch target of £144,000.

This would also help cover the risk of losing and being ordered to pay two sets of costs. Whilst we will ask the Court to cap our liability for costs, the Court cannot do so until after permission is granted.

That sounds like a lot of money.

We know that these are substantial sums. However, our estimates make pessimistic assumptions on the basis that we may have to pay costs of the other side. They also don't take account of any protection against costs that we will seek from the Court. They therefore cover the worst case scenario. But we need to plan in this way in order to be confident that we can keep the case going, and for the Secretary of State for Health and NHSE to know that as well. 

This will be a big fight. We will not get the NHS back unless and until Parliament acts.

Please give what you can and support local NHS campaigners however possible.

We deeply appreciate help in publicising to friends, family and colleagues via email, social media or word of mouth.

Tweet us https://twitter.com/jr4nhs or contact [email protected] 

Cover Photo / Motif design by Pearce Marchbank. 
Video by John Whalley, Gus Coral and John Furse.
Group and four individual photographs by Daniel Lucas/Dpict Media.