Last year, the health secretary Wes Streeting appointed Alan Milburn, who served in the same role under Tony Blair’s Labour government, as a key advisor.
The appointment was controversial because Milburn has earned millions in dividends advising private healthcare companies through his family consultancy firm since leaving office.
Now, Milburn has suggested that for-profit companies should play a greater role in the NHS in comments made to the Health Foundation podcast.
He told the think tank that, “we’ve got to stop viewing the health care system in this country as being about a single institution that we happen to call the National Health Service, and instead see it as being an ecosystem of very different providers, from telecos, techcos, of course private sector providers, at the margins, the public sector, and that’s what it is”.
Milburn was invited on the podcast to speak about the government’s recently published 10-year plan, which suggests that the NHS should be opened up to AI firms.
Spelling out his vision, he said the NHS should “manage and convene” providers – including private companies – rather than “direct or run a single institution”.
Since taking up his position on the Department of Health board, Milburn has continued to work as an advisor for private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital, which reportedly bought a £800m majority stake in MyDentist, the largest chain of private dentists in the UK.
The firm said that Milburn had no role in the deal and he advises on “leadership and development topics”.
Responding to Milburn’s comments, EveryDoctor CEO Julia Patterson said,
“The NHS is not for sale – it belongs to the public.
“Our pre-election survey showed that 63% of people support a fully public NHS, and 70% of those who intended to vote for Labour were against any involvement of private companies.
So, the question remains, when will the government start listening to the people? Perhaps, more importantly, who are they really listening to? If their plans to privatise the NHS go ahead, it won’t be the public they’re serving, but private interests.”