Halted: Privatisation of 30 NHS jobs in Wycombe and Aylesbury not going ahead

The planned privatisation of 30 NHS jobs in High Wycombe and Aylesbury will not go ahead for the time being, it has been confirmed.

Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust said it was not proceeding with the transfer of emergency nurse practitioners, clinicians and other staff to FedBucks.

The private company, which says it is ‘not for profit’, is chaired by Dr Penny Macdonald, the wife of the Trust’s chief executive Neil Macdonald, and already delivers some Bucks NHS services.

Under the Trust’s plan, the firm would have taken on all NHS staff delivering urgent treatment centre services at Wycombe Hospital and Stoke Mandeville.

However, staff received letters this month telling them the transfer was being stopped after the Trust had ‘listened to their feedback’.

Through its proposals, the Trust had aimed to cut waiting times, especially at Stoke Mandeville and ‘deliver best practice, and consistent quality of care’.

However, the potential transfer was controversial among some of the staff affected who warned it may negatively impact patient safety and expressed concerns about working for a private company.

“I want to be in the NHS,” one of them previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), “I like working for the NHS. I like to look after my patients.”

They added: “They are going to give us to FedBucks. They are going to farm us out of the NHS and enforce the nurses who want to remain NHS nurses to work for FedBucks.”

Unison also previously warned about the effects of privatisation, warning of potential ‘cost-cutting’ if the transfer were to proceed and that there could be a risk to staff’s ‘terms and conditions’.

A letter by the trade union read: “With this action, the Trust will be putting the service at risk and skilled experienced staff into difficult situations.”

The Trust told the LDRS this week it had received a letter from the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board ‘regarding the future commissioning of urgent care services in Buckinghamshire’.

A spokesperson said: “As these changes mean that the Trust now has the opportunity to award a longer contract to its chosen provider, there will need to be board level discussions as to whether this will require any changes to the current procurement process.

“We recognise the impact this uncertainty has had on our colleagues, so we have taken the decision to stop the current consultation process until we have greater clarity.

“We will continue to work in partnership with FedBucks to provide these vital services to the residents of Buckinghamshire.”

The Trust also previously said it was satisfied that the correct procedures to manage any conflicts of interest had been followed regarding the Macdonalds’ relationship.