Last night saw a landmark decision when a private company was given the final go-ahead to take over the running of a debt-ridden NHS hospital.
Having worked in the senior management team within a private sector facilities management company, I have first-hand experience of the value that out-sourcing operations can bring for struggling organisations. The reason I am so supportive of this is because external organisation bring new ideas, innovation and fresh perspective on how an organisation functions. Given time, they bring improved performance, stability and ad-hoc consultancy support, without costing the earth.
There are some key elements as to why I support privatisation in the NHS which are;
- Introduction of contemporary management and operational techniques; all too often, the NHS relies on obsolete management techniques and operational models which don’t support efficiency or reflect what the rest of the world are implementing in the workplace. A product of bureaucratic management structures, which remain unchanged for decades.
- Removal of red tape; Any publicly funded organisation requires evidence of spend and evidence of best practice. By design, this process is flawed as it requires reams of audit trails and administrative tasks which set out to dilute very reason for its being. Private companies are able to bypass this red tape culture and prove best price and value for money through evidence in performance and bottom line. Read the rest of this entry »