I probably have at least as much experience as most on privatisation in the NHS.
My first daughter was bron in a typical old London hospital. The whole experience was awful. The ward was very understaffed and it seemed very chaotic. My wife got no attention at all for several hours whilst in labour. They wouldn't let me in the hospital during this period, as she wasn't sufficiently in labour for me to be allowed in/ Because she picked up an infection in the hospital, she ended up spending 2 weeks in that maternity ward. It never really improved. Me and my mum helped several other women whilst there, as they cries for help were ignored. They were expected to get up out if bed and order their food in the corridor. How they were expected to do this, whilst drugged up and after caesarians was never explained. Getting anybody's attention seemed to be a continuing battle for all the new mums in there.
My second child was born in Hinchingbrooke hospital, which at the time was under the management of Circle. The experience was entirely different. She got attention whenever she needed, the staff were always helpful. My children went there a few times after this birth and I never had any complaints at any time with any treatment, including when one had to stay in overnight when seriously ill. I never saw anything that would concern me.
The second hospital reduced its defecit annually whilst circle was in charge and the whole place seemed to be improving all the time Circle were there.
The second hospital was subject to fines and eventually put under special measures as it was "failing" so badly. These in combination seemed to push Hincingbrooke over the edge and Circle walked away.
I have seen the CQC report into Hinchingbrooke and it was as if it was talking about a hospital that I had never been to.
Since Circle has walked away, CQC has backtracked enormously on its previous report as you can see here.
http://www.healthinvestor.co.uk/ShowArticle.aspx?ID=4032
and here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-31109331“Since our inspection, the CQC have changed their conflict of interest policy, changed the guidance for inspected hospitals, changed the publication process, retracted many serious allegations, and confirmed that they didn’t actually witness any harm to patients. They now appear to have changed the overall rating. That’s a victory, but it calls into question the credibility of the entire inspection.
“Hinchingbrooke was the same hospital, run the same way, with Circle still in charge during both inspections. Yet in the new report the majority of 33 individual ratings are ‘good’ and just one is now 'inadequate'.
“This second report is based on an inspection carried out before the CQC’s first report. We simply cannot understand why they published a critical report after an inspection that showed a different result.
“This was deeply misleading to patients, and will inflame the sense of injustice we know many Hinchingbrooke staff feel.”This is a hospital where in the press bumf connected to the original report Fiona Allinson, who was head of hospital inspection told the CQC board meeting "It was one of the worst inspections that I had ever been to. I drove home and wanted to drive back again with my nurse's uniform on to sort it out."
By contrast Dr Suzanne Hamilton, chair of the Medical Advisory Committee at the hospital wrote to the local paper to say that the CQC report was not consistent with "the vast reams of verified statistical data" about the hospital.
The whole episode left a very bad taste in my mouth, but unfortunately even those on the right see it as something as an embarassment, so we are left with a narrative that the whole Circle management of Hinchingbrooke failed horribly. Whilst there were failings on the way, there is clearly a lot that can be learned from the whole episode and hopefully the NHS will learn those lessons.
In the time before Circle took over Hinchingbrooke was failing horribly and was very much under the threat of closure with an enormous deficit. If it wasn't the worst performing hospital financially in the whole country it was very close to it.
Fiona Allinson is still in her role at the CQC.
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