Taxpayers fund NHS trip

A  Daily Mirror Investigation has revealed how a senior Tory enjoyed a visit to a luxury private US health clinic at UK taxpayers’ expense.

A health watchdog admitted that Care Quality Commission (CQC) funded Lord David Prior’s trip, which cost £6,000.

“It’s a disgrace that the taxpayer picked up the tab for his controversial trip,” said Gail Cartmail, Unite assistant general secretary.

At the time he was the chair of health watchdog CQC and is now Cameron’s minister for NHS productivity.

His official expenses were previously recorded as £3,000 in November 13 but the health watchdog has recently been forced to apologise for what they called an ‘error’.

“This [Daily Mirror] investigation exposes the cosy relationship between US private healthcare and the Tories,” added Gail.

Labour has called for a full investigation into Lord Prior’s expenses saying there must be a ‘full explanation of how Lord Prior’s expenses contained false information about the US trip’.

“This will raise further questions about Lord Prior’s conduct before he was appointed a minister,” said Justin Madders, shadow health minister.

“At a time when NHS budgets are under the most pressure they have been in a generation, patients will question the wisdom of taxpayers’ money being used in this way,” he added.

A CQC spokeswoman said that Lord Prior’s 2013 study trip had been inaccurately recorded and that McKinsey had organised it but did not fund the trip. The trip was entirely funded by CQC.

“There needs to be an explanation into how the ‘error’ in Lord Prior’s official expenses occurred and how such an ‘error’ remained for two years,” said Gail.

The Mirror investigation also exposed how Lord Prior attended a meeting in Windsor about how to replace the NHS with an insurance-based system.

The event organised by McKinsey, covered ‘building a national health insurer’ and ‘private health insurance growth opportunities – the new frontier’.

TTIP

“It’s no wonder the Tories won’t act to protect the NHS from the trade deal called TTIP which gives US private healthcare companies new rights over our NHS which could lead to an irreversible sell-off. David Cameron must act to protect the NHS from TTIP,” she added.

McKinsey makes millions of pounds from supplying services to the NHS and also makes money from advising private health clients to do the same.

Labour MP Graham Morris said that private health companies have their own agenda which includes introducing private health insurance and making the NHS a marketable commodity.

The health watchdog also covered ÂŁ969.20 worth of expenses linked to the same trip.