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Trust hospital criticised for privatising pathology services

An NHS trust hospital that is about to privatise its pathology service has been reported to the district auditor by the British Medical Association (BMA), which wants an investigation into the way the trust conducted the tendering process. In a separate move the Royal College of Pathologists has said that it fears that the quality of the service could suffer if the privatisation goes ahead. North Hertfordshire NHS Trust said last October that it was awarding the contract for pathology services at the Lister Hospital in Stevenage to United Laboratories.

Bob Ewings, chief executive of the trust, rejected the college's criticism that the quality of the service could suffer with independent management. "The service could suffer if the trust does not manage it properly. But we will have in place proper systems and proper structures to make sure that does not happen."

The contract is one of the first . . . [Full text of this article]

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This article has been cited by other articles:

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