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Private Sector (NHS)

I wanted to ask about the imposition of commissioning on PCTs. Newcastle-under-Lyme PCT employs scores of community nurses and runs a community hospital, and is already addressing market failure by employing salaried GPs; it will also employ a salaried dentist. What case has been made for possibly removing those functions from PCTs such as the one in my constituency, resulting in demoralisation? The Minister is a management consultant. Prima facie what is better and more efficient—one provider with a good record of managing services directly or a proliferation of organisations managing indirectly through a plethora of contracts and a battery of lawyers?