Circle signs historic Hinchingbrooke contract
10 November 2011
Circle, the employee co-owned partnership, has today signed a
ground-breaking contract to run Hinchingbrooke Healthcare NHS Trust
in Huntingdonshire for ten years.
The East of England Strategic Health Authority (SHA) selected
Circle as their preferred partner last November following a
14-month tendering process involving 19 initial potential
bidders. Circle will become the first ever non-state provider
to deliver a full range of NHS district general hospital services
when the contract commences in February.
Circle operate under a unique partnership model, where everyone
from the consultants to the cleaners are co-owners in the
business. They have a track record of turning round NHS
services through clinical leadership and devolved decision-making,
delivering over 20% productivity gains as well as 99% patient
satisfaction in their first year operating day-surgery hospitals in
Nottingham and Burton. Circle's founding ethos was to be
above all else the agents of their patients. Their
social mission is to re-engineer the delivery of healthcare to make
it better, simpler and smarter value for patients.
Circle Chief Executive, Ali Parsa, said:
"At a time when some healthcare commentators say the solution
for small district general hospitals is simply to merge or be shut
down, we believe the NHS Midlands and East's courage and zeal for
innovation will enable us to show how clinician and staff control
can provide a more sustainable alternative. Our partners have
now met hundreds of Hinchingbrooke staff, and we know that we share
a core value of prioritising patients above all else, and a passion
for reengineering healthcare delivery to make it simpler, better
and smarter value for the patients. Circle arrives not with a
top-down plan to impose change, but with a proven methodology of
unleashing NHS professionals' talent through clinical leadership
and devolved decision-making."
Dr Stephen Dunn, the strategic health authority's Director of
Policy and Strategy, said:
"This is a momentous day. Circle secured this operating
franchise following an open competition. They outshone the best of
the best from the NHS and independent sectors. This will
usher in a new era, unleashing innovation into the NHS, with staff
and patients firmly at the centre."
Nigel Beverley, interim Chief Executive for Hinchingbrooke
Health Care NHS Trust, said:
"We have been bowled over by Circle's enthusiasm and the efforts
they have taken to engage with staff, patients and our other
partners. Circle recognises our excellent achievements at the
hospital, and we look forward to working with them to build on our
successes."