Global EditionASIA 中文雙語(yǔ)Fran?ais
World
Home / World / Europe

Virgin's healthcare stake revealed

By JULIAN SHEA | China Daily | Updated: 2018-08-07 11:26
Share
Share - WeChat
A screenshot of Virgin Care's homepage. [Photo/Virgin Care]

British business group Virgin, which started out running a music label and chain of record stores in the 1970s, has become one of the country's leading healthcare providers after being awarded almost 2 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) worth of contracts in the National Health Service, or NHS, over the past five years, according to figures published by the Guardian newspaper.

The healthcare system in Britain is provided by the taxpayer-funded NHS, which is completely free of charge at the point of use. It celebrates its 70th birthday this year, but increasing numbers of contracts within the system are being made available to private contractors.

Over the years the Virgin group, headed by high-profile businessman Richard Branson, has expanded from its initial music industry base to set up an airline, travel and finance companies, and run several major train services.

Its involvement in healthcare is less publicized but according to the Guardian, its healthcare sector Virgin Care now runs at least 400 public sector health contracts, ranging from dental services in prisons to organizing flu jab services for school children.

Whilst there is nothing questionable about Virgin's increasing involvement in the health sector, there has been some criticism of the way it has conducted its business, most notably when last year it won a 2 million pound payout from several regional NHS trusts in a legal dispute over a child care services contract.

Also, neither the Department of Health and Social Care nor NHS England keep centralized records of contracts awarded, so specific details are hard to get hold of.

"The company has been so keen to get a foothold in healthcare, it's even been prepared to go to court to win contracts, moves that have cost the NHS dearly," said Sara Gorton, the head of health at the trade union Unison.

"While the NHS remains dangerously short of funds, taxpayers' money shouldn't be wasted on these dangerous experiments in privatization."

A spokesperson for Virgin Care defended the company's actions, telling the Sun newspaper "Virgin Care accounts for less than 1 percent of the Virgin Group's value and has not made a profit to date".

Virgin first became involved in healthcare on a small scale in 2008 but in 2010 it bought a significant stake in an existing provider, Assura, since when it has grown significantly.

The Guardian reported that as of March 2017, Virgin Care Services Ltd had almost 1,200 staff, with a turnover of 204 million pounds and an operating profit of 8 million pounds.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产手机精品一区二区| 攵女yin乱合集高h文| 伊人色综合网一区二区三区| 91香蕉视频导航| 在车里被撞了八次高c| 久久久www成人免费精品| 欧美人七十二式性视频教程一| 啊轻点灬大巴太粗太长了视频| 亚洲护士毛茸茸| 大陆一级毛片免费视频观看| 久久久男人天堂| 欧美成人免费在线视频| 免费精品99久久国产综合精品| 麻豆亚洲av熟女国产一区二| 国产色婷婷五月精品综合在线 | 亚洲国产欧美国产综合久久| 精品亚洲一区二区三区在线观看| 国产寡妇树林野战在线播放| 91亚洲va在线天线va天堂va国产| 婷婷六月久久综合丁香可观看| 久久久这里有精品999| 欧美videossex精品4k| 亚洲精品成人a| 精品久久久久久久久午夜福利 | 亚洲香蕉久久一区二区| 在线观看污视频网站| 一级做a爰性色毛片免费| 日韩一区二区三区无码影院| 亚洲区小说区图片区qvod| 激情亚洲的在线观看| 动漫美女人物被黄漫小说| 荡女安然的yin乱生活| 国产手机精品一区二区| 24小时日本韩国高清免费| 天天夜碰日日摸日日澡| 三中文乱码视频| 无码丰满熟妇一区二区| 久久精品无码一区二区三区不卡| 欧美成a人片在线观看| 亚洲精品国产福利一二区| 白嫩极品小受挨cgv|