Wn v ɖ Toriz’ bigist evr donrz proḟtd fṛm £135m v NHS contracts
Transcription of a Guardian article of 20 September 2023
Xclūsiv: Franc Hstr, hu gev Riśi Sūnac’s parti £5m ɖs sumr, z ʈt t hv md hyj sumz fṛm DHSC contracts
Wnzde, 20 Sptmbr 2023
Wn v ɖ Cnsrṿtivz’ bigist evr donrz hz proḟtd fṛm £135m v contracts wɖ ɖ Dpartmnt v Hlʈ n Sośl Cer in undr for yirz.
Franc Hstr, a hlʈcer téc ontṛpṛnŕ huz cumṗni s’plîz cmpytrsistmz t ɖ NHS, gev Riśi Sūnac’s parti £5m ɖs sumr – ɖ jônt bigist dneśn t ɖ Toriz in decedz.
Hiz cumṗni, ɖ Fīnix Partnrśp (TPP), peid ǎt mor ɖn £20m in diṿdndz btwn 2019 n 2022, wɖ Hstr ɖ onli śerholdr.
Ɖ grūp s’plîz softwér t abt 2,700 JP srɉriz in Ñgḷnd az wel az s’portsrṿsz t alǎ ɖm t hold medicl recordz fr peśnts ilectronicli.
Its mn oṗretñcumṗni, ɖ Fīnix Partnrśp (Lìdz), rcordd a trnovr v £75m, wɖ profit bfr tax v £47m in ɖ yir t Marć 2022, Cumṗnizhǎs dokmnts śo. It peid diṿdndz jrñ ɖ yir v £10m t its peṛntcumṗni, ẃć z ultiṃtli ǒnd bî Hstr, n a saḷri v £515,000 t him, its sol d’rectr.
Ovr a pirịd v for yirz fṛm 2019 t 2022, ɖ ultiṃt peṛntcumṗni, TPP Grūp, peid ǎt £23.5m in diṿdndz, ẃć apir t hv gn t Hstr az its onli śerholdr.
Contracts wɖ ɖ Dpartmnt fr Hlʈ n Sośl Cer apir t mc p a larj pṛporśn v TPP’z biznis. TPP sd it dd nt wś t coment ẃn asct abt its biznis wɖ ɖ NHS, n ẃɖr ol ɖ diṿdndz wr peid t Hstr.
Last yir, Hstr rout an opn letr t ɖ NHS seyñ: “W r hir fr ǎr NHS. W r hir t hlp. Nt t drîv profits fr śerholdrz, or t grīs rvolvñdorz. Let’s d it fr ɖ fruntlîn n ćūz t diɉtîz in an intîrli difṛnt we.”
Ɖ scel v biznis ɖt Hstr n TPP hz wɖ ɖ NHS wz uncuvrd bî ɖ Gd Lw Project, ẃć faund pemnts toṭlñ £137m t ɖ cumṗni sins ɖ start v ɖ Covid pandemic in Epril 2020, larjli undr ɖ JP IT Fyćrz fremwrc.
Jo Mōm, ɖ d’rectr v ɖ Gd Lw Project, sd: “Wns y si hǎ mć Mr Hstr gts fṛm an NHS ɖt z despṛtli starvd v muni, y cn unḍstand ẃ h z so cmitd t ɖ guvnmnt ɖt lets him.”
Hstr, a cmpytrprogramr fṛm Lìdz, z listd on ɖ Súnde Tîmz Rić List wɖ an esṭmetd wlʈ v £415m. H wz md an OBE in 2015 fr srṿsz t hlʈcer. TPP hz met guvnmntfigrz ʈri tîmz sins Jlî 2021, includñ Stīv Barcli, ɖ hlʈsecṛtri.
Raitñ in ɖ Teḷgraf ɖs munʈ, ẃn h md hiz £5m dneśn, Hstr sd h wz dnetñ t Sūnac’s parti bcz h b’livz it cn dlivr fr ɖ NHS.
“Az a biznismn fṛm Yorx́r I hv bn forćṇt inuf t hv met ɖ prîm̦inistr. H śerz mî paśn fr harṇsñ ɖ deṭreṿluśn t trnsform ɖ we w az sitiznz axes hlʈcer,” h rout.
“Arṭfiśl intelijns hz ɖ abiḷti t c’lect, stor n aṇlîz peśntdeta in a we ɖt cd reṿluśnîz dạgnostics, îdnṭfayñ, fr xampl, ẃɖr smwn z mor at risc fṛm cansr or dmnśa. R’botics cn hlp miṇmîz invesiv pṛsijrz, mīnñ les trōma fr peśnts n spīdñ p rcuṿritîmz.”
Rlịr ɖs yir, it wz rportd ɖt TPP wz awordd a £150,000 contract wɖ ɖ YC Hlʈ n S’kṛti Ejnsi abt sevn munʈs bfr ɖ cumṗni gev a £150,000 dneśn t ɖ Cnsrṿtivz. A c’rex́n wz lêtr iśùd t se ɖ dneśn cem fṛm Hstr rɖr ɖn ɖ cumṗni.
At ɖ tîm, ɖ cumṗni sd: “TPP stricli foloz ɖ gîdlînz fr public-sectr cntractñ. In rgardz t ɖ dneśnz, ɖz śd hv bn md bî Franc Hstr in hiz prsnl cpaṣti rɖr ɖn ʈru ɖ biznis. Mr Hstr rpeid ɖ cumṗni in fl. Fr abṣlut claṛti, TPP z uniqivcli êṗliticl.”
Ɖ cumṗni hz rmend reḷtivli lo-profîl az a s’playr t ɖ NHS. Hvr, it wz ɖ subjict v cntrovsi in 2018 ẃn TPP feld t inform NHS Dijitl ɖt 150,000 peśnts hd optd ǎt v śẹrñ ɖer medicl deta, rzultñ in ɖer inḟmeśn biyñ śerd bî mstec.
At ɖ tîm, Jaci Dôl-Prîs, a hlʈministr, dscrîbd it az a “s’playrdīfect in ɖ prosesñ v historicl peśnt objx́nz t ɖ śẹrñ v ɖer conḟdnśl hlʈdeta”.
Ś sd TPP hd “apoḷjîzd unrizrvidli fr its rǒl in ɖs matr n hz cmitd t wrc wɖ NHS Dijitl so ɖt errz v ɖs nećr d nt ocŕ agn”. Ɖ guvnmnt strest ɖr hd nt bn eni risc t peśntcer.
TPP dclînd t coment abt ɖ scel v its biznis wɖ ɖ NHS. Ɖ Dpartmnt v Hlʈ n Sośl Cer wz olso aproćt fr coment.
