The government is using the coronavirus pandemic to transfer key public health duties from the NHS and other state bodies to the private sector without proper scrutiny, critics have warned. Now, the Guardian has seen a letter from the Department of Health to NHS trusts instructing them to stop buying any of their own PPE and ventilators. Nightingale hospitalsDozens of private companies have won contracts to build, run and support the Nightingale hospitals. Recruiting extra NHS and hospital staffCapita, another outsourcing firm, was awarded a contract to help the NHS “vet and onboard thousands of returning nurses and doctors”. PPEThe government appointed Deloitte to help it ramp up British production of protective equipment and source stocks from the UK and abroad.

Source: The Guardian May 04, 2020 19:26 UTC