NHS staff at Stoke Mandeville Hospital to be moved into private company

Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust said FedBucks – a federation of GPs – would take on 30 of its emergency nurse practitioners, clinicians, and ‘primary care streamers’ in 2025.

The move will see the company, which already provides some NHS services, employ all staff delivering urgent treatment centre services at Wycombe Hospital and Stoke Mandeville.

The trust claims 30 per cent of the patients who come to its emergency departments could be treated by GPs, which would allow staff to look after people with more serious conditions.

A spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “The trust is proceeding with its plans to outsource the 24/7 primary care services at Wycombe and Stoke Mandeville hospitals.

“The transfer of service responsibility has been set for early in the new year to allow for finalisation of the contract – which is due to run until March 2026 – and further engagement with affected colleagues.”

The trust said it would continue to monitor patient safety, quality and experience, waiting times and financial performance.

It added: “The trust remains ultimately accountable for the patients going through the urgent treatment centres at Stoke Mandeville and Wycombe.”

NHS bosses claim the transfer of staff, which was supposed to take place on 20 November, is necessary to ‘deliver best practice’, tackle delays, reduce reliance on agency staff and reduce costs to make the best use of taxpayers’ money.

However, the plans have caused controversy among staff, with one of those affected saying: “As I see it, they decided it was happening.”

The individual, who wished to remain anonymous, told the LDRS: “They don’t seem to have done the due diligence a ‘competitive process’ would have triggered and because of the staff challenge it had to go back to the drawing board and do more work on it or make a show of following ‘any’ process.”

The trust did put the contract to provide urgent treatment services out to tender, although maintained throughout the process FedBucks was its ‘preferred’ provider.

The company is chaired by the wife of the trust’s chief executive, but the trust claims the ‘correct procedures regarding managing any conflicts of interest have been followed’.

The concerns around awarding FedBucks the contract include staff worries they could be replaced once the contract expires in 2026, as well as fears patient safety may be compromised.

Trade union Unison warned of the plans: “Profit making for private companies is often achieved by cost-cutting, such as not employing adequate numbers of staff, or employing staff on reduced terms and conditions.”

Although it is a limited company, FedBucks and the trust stress it has a ‘not-for-profit ethos’.