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by inferiorhuman 2354 days ago
They've been having some trouble recruiting and retaining staff.

And yet I didn't see any obvious job openings. I didn't see an obvious way of checking civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk as neither NHSX nor National Health… turned up any results when plugging them into the organization filter. It's an interesting mission, but if they're not hiring then I can only imagine they're starved for funding or they've successfully retained enough folks.
1 comments
toyg 2354 days ago
> if they're not hiring then I can only imagine they're starved for funding

The overall context is a government that has been openly antagonistic to the NHS for at least a decade, pushed for disastrously expensive "privatisation by stealth" efforts [0][1][2], and is now effectively trying to outsource the digital side of NHS operations to private companies [3]. Strategically starving certain departments is par for the course.

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/apr/04/gp-local-nhs...

[1] https://the-probe.co.uk/blog/2019/12/hancock-urged-to-halt-n...

[2] https://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f1322

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_Health#Matthew_Hancock

(and many, many more sources if you really need them...)

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inferiorhuman 2352 days ago
The overall context is a government that has been openly antagonistic to the NHS for at least a decade, pushed for disastrously expensive "privatisation by stealth" efforts [0][1][2], and is now effectively trying to outsource the digital side of NHS operations to private companies [3]. Strategically starving certain departments is par for the course.

If the goal is to "starve the beast" NHSX isn't having trouble with retention then are they?

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DanBC 2352 days ago
I agree with everything you say, but GPs have always been private companies operating under NHS GP contracts, and Babylon Health isn't at all unusual in that regard.

They are a very large provider, and that's causing problems for their hosting CCG.

None of this detracts from your point: the NHS has been deliberately under-funded for years, and the Conservatives are pushing for non-NHS providers to provide services.

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