Nick Seddon

• Nick Seddon

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• Feb.02.2017: David Cameron’s Former Health Advisor Joined an NHS Privatisation Firm. Good thing the NHS could be part of a future US trade deal. Theresa May didn't rule out offering up the NHS to even more privatisation by American corporations in her let's-make-a-deal meeting with Donald Trump last week. It took until Wednesday for the govt to say that no, the NHS could never be part of such a deal. Meanwhile Labour were still warning that a US trade deal could be "a Trojan horse for NHS privatisation". The prospect of further privatisation will remain a tantalising one for the health companies already making fat profits from NHS contracts. At the top of one such firm is none other than David Cameron's former Special Advisor for Health. Nick Seddon was Cameron's health advisor until Jul.2016. According to transparency documents released just before Christmas by 10 Downing Street, Seddon became an Executive Vice President of Optum in Nov.2016, just 4 months after he left his post with the Conservative Party. Optum is a division of US private health giant UnitedHealth, and has been bidding for NHS contracts for years. United already has a strong foothold in the NHS. It's on the NHS England "Commissioner Support Lead Provider Framework". That makes it a recommended "lead provider" to help local NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups buy health services. It is deeply entrenched in the NHS internal market. UnitedHealth already had an advantage in the UK even before it employed Cameron's former aide. Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, was a UnitedHealth executive from 2006 to 2014. As Cameron's health advisor from 2013 to 2016, Nick Seddon was seen as one of the leading enthusiasts for NHS privatisation in the govt. From 2008 to 2010 he was top spin-doctor for Circle Health, a UK health privatiser. From 2010 to 2013 Seddon was a director at Reform, an economically liberal think-tank funded by leading outsourcing corporations. While at Reform, Seddon argued the NHS should be replaced by an insurance system. He envisaged "healthcare largely funded by govt" but "organised outside of govt, by insurance companies and other organisations". Up until 2014, Seddon's new job would have been vetted for possible conflict of interest by the semi-independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA). However, thanks to a change introduced by Cameron's govt in 2014, Seddon only needed to get approval from his own department, the Cabinet Office, for the move to the private sector. They approved the job but imposed two conditions - but have no way of checking up on him. Optum is currently bidding for NHS contracts. It bid for the £535m Staffordshire "End of Life" contract looking after terminally ill patients in the Midlands. NHS Commissioners said that Optum had submitted a bid before the "pause" in the contract, and had not withdrawn the bid. The NHS Commissioners said they intended to evaluate Optum's bid, along with the two other bidders – Virgin Health and Interserve – in the spring, and announce a winner in the summer.(Optum have been fined a lot for shit practices). (Tag=Revolving Door) Solomon Hughes, Vice News.