Oral Answers to Questions

Eleanor Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 20th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

In my first few years as Health Secretary, the message I heard loud and clear from the NHS was that it did not want a huge structural reorganisation, so we are very cautious about changing statutory structures. We want to encourage integration, but in time, if the NHS says it would like the statutory structure changed, we will of course listen.

[Eleanor Smith (Wolverhampton South West) (Lab)]

4. What estimate he has made of the number of NHS trusts that have established wholly owned subsidiary companies.

[The Minister for Health (Stephen Barclay)]

NHS Improvement has informed the Department that 42 foundation trusts have reported consolidated subsidiaries, but there might be a few instances of subsidiaries being too small to be consolidated.

[Eleanor Smith]

What assessment has the Minister made of the impact on staff morale, retention and recruitment where trusts have set up wholly subsidiary companies and introduced a two-tier system whereby new staff terms and conditions are not part of the NHS “Agenda for Change” or the NHS pension scheme? Is this the back door to privatisation?

[Stephen Barclay]

Had the hon. Lady been able to attend the recent Westminster Hall debate on this issue, she would have heard that in the trust under discussion the staff survey showed an improvement in responses as a result of the subsidiary because many staff valued the flexibilities in the new contracts that the subsidiary could offer.