... and PE has widespread involvement in community health services, as in our area: Private equity owned company gains billion £ contract for community services - The Lowdown share.google/pjPGOhvXpzjT...

Four More US States Weigh Bans on Private-Equity Interference in Medical Care. UK handing more of healthcare to PE parasites Hospitals GP surgeries Dentists Care homes Children's care PE has no long term interest in anything. It profiteers by devouring. archive.ph/xBUyI

It's rare to see how lobbyists operate. But the Epstein-Mandelson correspondence shows us what happens all the time: plutocrats and government ministers conspiring against the public interest. This is why all lobbying should be in the public domain, but despite Labour and Con promises, it's not. 🧵

Private equity firms making huge gains from publicly funded foster care services for vulnerable children observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

We hope the good people of #SanFrancisco will forgive us for adapting a song about their city in 1967 to address the shocking and tragic events in #Minnesota in recent weeks. This is dedicated to Renée Good and Alex Pretti, and in solidarity. Our version is called "Minnesota" ❤️ youtu.be/BRHxXHZmVAM

The government has given in to Trump, handed billions from the NHS budget to Big Pharma - and won’t even give us their the true long term costs. Great piece 👇 I’ll be meeting MPs tomorrow to plan the fight back. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Very disappointed that this Govt is overseeing an increase in outsourcing of NHS elective care & uptick in profit-seeking private equity ownership of healthcare firms (incl. HCRG, who have a v large contract for community services in our ICB area)

Urgently important work from @chpithinktank.bsky.social

Solidarity with #Airedale #NHS hospital strikers. No SubCOs in the NHS. #fairpay #fairpensions #safestaffing

WHO statement on notification of withdrawal of the United States WHO regrets the United States’ notification of withdrawal from WHO – a decision that makes both the United States and the world less safe. Full statement: bit.ly/46dT0HF

'The normal rules of engagement have been thrown out - Alex Pretti was on his knees when first shot was fired'

Spire Healthcare to be bought out by private equity group, whilst lobbying Govt for more work As #NHS fails due to lack of investment, the private sector flourishes Spire has seen revenues from NHS rise to 30% of all activities growth 7.7%, with over all growth 4.3% news.sky.com/story/buyout...

Just revisiting one of our campaign actions from last year (3 of our campaigners on the right of pic). Sadly, our call-in request re: the contract to Health Sec has not been granted

Signs about the history of slavery in the U.S. and the 9 people George Washington enslaved are being removed right now at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia, across from Independence Hall, months after the Trump administration threatend to do so. How far we have not come in 250 years.

This week we shared our Private Finance briefing with MP at the House of Commons. It doesn't matter what form of private finance is applied in the NHS. The result is the same - a bonanza for the private sector, at the expense of patient care. Find the briefing on our website vist.ly/4nrab

‘NHS now heavily dependent on private companies to deliver ADHD services and rapid unplanned growth in expenditure on these services threatens to undermine financial stability of local NHS services and take funds away from those most in need’ finds report by CHPI www.chpi.org.uk/reports/how-...

Taking paracetamol (acetaminophen) in pregnancy does not raise chances of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability, ‘gold standard’ review finds www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Beautiful and bittersweet clip of a lady emotionally sharing her voice with a busker early on in the protests crackdown in Iran. Still getting goosebumps wondering what happens after that whistle, when the clip stops😢 BTW the song is "Khodahafez" (Goodbye) by folk-pop singer Erfan Tahmasbi. #Iran

More superb reporting today from Sky’s Ridge & Frost on the shocking student loans scandal. Watch this staggering report. This has got to be fixed. We cannot allow young people to exploited in this way.

Independent sector is now delivering 9-10% of all #NHS elective care. Higher still for admitted elective activity, with almost 1 in 5 admitted elective care Yet consistently takes the simple more straightforward cases, making profit & building more capacity eg. Spire 30% of work

A Reform government would look to cut funding to the NHS by £26 billion. At the same time, they are looking to give tax breaks to people who can afford private healthcare northeastbylines.co.uk/news/health/...

'These [PFI] contracts pay private companies to maintain buildings in return for being allowed to generate profits' www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

There is, to my mind, no justification for the continued use by the UK Government of X as a platform for official comms. There hasn't been for some time, in fact, but if the latest developments around AI-generated image abuse and CSAM don't change the policy I really don't know what will.

Charity warns of rise in 'clothing poverty'. Profiteering and cuts in real wages force people rely on charity. Charity provides food, clothing, air ambulance, hospices and more in the 6th largest economy. 1% have more wealth than 70% of the population combined.

'Exacerbated by the covid-19 pandemic, the past decade has seen a huge increase in financial, housing, and food insecurity, as well as loneliness and isolation—all risk factors associated with mental ill health.' www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Let’s go back to 2010! We didn’t need cancer pathways as urgent referrals were seen in 2-3 weeks, routine in 2-3 months Recruitment was rising, jobs were good. It wasn’t perfect but in 4 decades of NHS work it was the best it had been THEN SOMETHING HAPPENED ….

My letter in @thetimes.com today: what is the economy for? #PublicHealth #Wellbeing #Environment #Inequality

The reality of Reform in local government - incompetent bordering on negligent in their statutory duties to provide social care for the most vulnerable www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

What will NHS staffing cuts mean for services? by John Lister lowdownnhs.info/comment/what...

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: English hospitals that cut registered nurses saw more deaths while those hiring nurses saw more patients survive. Even when hospitals tried to fill gaps with non-nurses, deaths still went up. Major new study exposes dangerous NHS variation: www.thetimes.com/article/7eed...

Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵 Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...

Over a week ago @elstorreele.bsky.social & I raised serious questions about the still unpublished (if it actually exists) U.K. US Pharma “deal”. Pleased to see that @chionwurah.bsky.social has written to DHSC asking the same questions as we did. committees.parliament.uk/committee/13...

📜 Parliament passes the Employment Rights Bill 🎉 📢 UNISON hails the hard-fought legislation that will transform workers’ rights for the better ✊ Find out more here ⬇️ unsn.uk/45e3OoH

Thank you to all those #NHS staff who are working so hard with all their skills & experience to care for so many sick patients (in the face of severe shortages of hospital beds, doctors, GPs & community/social care facilities) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The 3rd edition of our World Inequality Report is prefaced by @josephestiglitz.bsky.social & Jayati Ghosh. It comes at a challenging political time, but is more essential than ever to continue the historic movement toward equality. Explore the report ▶️ wir2026.wid.world

Our Co-Chair @drjohnpuntis.bsky.social said: “The private sector isn’t a pressure valve for the NHS. Private hospitals rely on the same overstretched staff, so shifting more NHS money their way only pulls people out of an already thin workforce." www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

This is the main thing the resident doctor strike action is about, not the pay - though that helps retain doctors. If resident doctors cannot get posts, which is the case currently, they cannot progress and may leave our NHS. Down the line we will have a shortage senior doctors such as consultants

An alarming cautionary tale from @thelowdownnhs.bsky.social about profit extraction from UK social care by private equity owned firms, a tale not heeded by ICBs (or DHSC) when outsourcing NHS community care to the private sector

Let’s really ‘Bring back the Family Doctor’ Wes Streeting NHSEngland with a real patient focused contract and real funding to make it happen Patients want to see GPs & GPs want to see patients ‘Your GP, here for you’ time to make it happen & it’s in your hands

Millions extracted in profit from publicly funded social care lowdownnhs.info/private-prov...

Thoughts on #COP30: 1/ This is the first time in years delegates have been brought face to face with those on the frontline. The indigenous communities are the heroes of this COP. They refused to be silenced. www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/202...

NHS private finance diverts money away from healthcare, towards the pockets of private shareholders. Cat Eccles MP’s motion can force the government to drop their NHS private finance plans from the Autumn Budget. ✉️Take 2 mins now to email your MP to sign the motion and protect patients.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025... My letter to the Guardian

Our co-chair @drtonyosullivan.bsky.social was proud to speak at @weownit.org.uk protest against another round of disastrous PFI in the NHS. Effectively buying health centres on credit cards whilst giving money to shareholders, is not a sensible or responsible way to support our health service.

Thanks to our brilliant supporters who turned up in the cold to protest outside the DHSC building today. Like the 17,000+ people who signed our petition, they don't want the NHS burdened with decades of debt. The message is clear: Rachel Reeves, Wes Streeting, no new private finance in our NHS!

It is highly unlikely that the GPs and their teams are doing less, much more likely that you can’t see what they are doing.

Reform UK energy plans crumble under scrutiny …evidence shows green jobs and growth are already powering the UK economy