Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) has been given the go-ahead to commence its five-year contract to run the Nottingham NHS Treatment Centre located in the grounds of the Queen’s Medical Centre.
The Trust had been awarded the contract by the Rushcliffe Clinical Commissioning Group but its commencement was delayed by legal action brought by private provider, Circle Healthcare which had run the service for 11 years. The High Court has now ruled that the contract should proceed.
“We have always seen the Treatment Centre tender as an exciting opportunity to develop innovative services for the benefit of our patients and the wider health and social care community through more integrated care,” says Tracy Taylor, NUH Chief Executive.
“The new arrangement for the Treatment Centre will enable us to bring the clinical leadership community together to review how services can be better provided across primary, secondary and community care, as well as how we deliver services for patients that enable the provision of more effective end-to-end treatments across whole pathways.”
A spokesperson for Circle Healthcare has said the company will continue to challenge the CCG’s procurement process, calling it “flawed” and “unfair”. UNISON has urged the company to drop this action to avoid wasting any further public funds.
