Tory MPs, lords and even Downing Street advisers have been shamelessly accepting money from private healthcare firms as the NHS is on its knees.
Today we reveal connections between wealthy Conservatives and companies which are profiting from the health service crisis.
The troubling links come as the Government dishes out contracts to the private sector to tackle long NHS waiting lists.
And they emerge as private health providers cash in through growing numbers of desperate NHS patients digging into savings for treatment.
Dr Megan Smith, an NHS anaesthetist in London and member of campaign group EveryDoctor, said of our revelations: “This is sickening. It is the epitome of letting the fox into the henhouse.
“Private healthcare firms, in effect, paying for access to politicians and obtaining benefits from cosying up to them undermines the integrity of our NHS.
“These links confirm this Government is a clear danger to the NHS and public health.”
At least 28 Tory MPs and Lords have had ties to private health and medical groups, publicly accessible records reveal. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing.
They include: Suffolk MP Dan Poulter, an NHS doctor paid £30k a year by medical cannabis firm Kanabo Group PLC
Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond who earns £25,000 a year as a non-executive director at Optibiotix Health that sells products to manage chronic lifestyle diseases.
Huntingdon MP Jonathan Djanogly, the £30,000-a-year chairman of Pembroke VCT, which has invested in healthcare software companies.
Ex-health minister Steve Brine made £200 an hour giving “strategic advice” to drug firm Sigma before resigning in 2021.
He earned £1,600 for eight hours a month as adviser to healthcare recruitment service Remedium.
Portsmouth MP Penny Mordaunt, who made a bid for the Tory party leadership, took a £10,000 donation from care home firm Renaissance Care UK.
She was also paid £6,900 for speaking to the Boston Consulting Group, which made millions from Covid testing.
Security minister Tom Tugendhat has shares in Accurx Ltd – a software firm “improving communication in healthcare”.
MP Richard Fuller, who represents North East Bedfordshire, was paid £20,000 a year as an adviser at Investcorp until last summer. The firm invested in Cambio Healthcare in the electronic health records market. Mr Fuller had no hand in that decision.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt earned £12,000 for a speech to Healthcare Business International, which provides services to “for-profit health care services”. Unlike some colleagues, he donated the cash to charity.
Wokingham MP John Redwood has a £5,000-a-year deal advising EPIC Private Equity, which invests in private prescriptions delivery firm Pharmacy2U.
Former Health Secretary Sajid Javid had share options in a California tech firm behind health sector software. He sold his stake after Labour accused him of a conflict of interest.
Tory MP for Don Valley, Nick Fletcher, has an £800-a-month perks package as a director of Analogue Electrics, which includes private health insurance.
Snouts in the trough are not confined to the Commons.
At least 16 Tory peers have interests in private healthcare and biomedical firms, including:
Lord Michael Farmer, who has donated millions to the party since 2010. He has shares in Centene, a US healthcare firm.
Its subsidiary Operose Health has taken over dozens of London medical practices.
He is also a shareholder in the US-based healthcare insurance company eHealth.
Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford is an equity partner for venture capital firm Recode Health Ventures and chair of the advisory board of private blood tester Thriva.
Lord Howard of Rising is a shareholder in medical diagnostics firms EKF, Renalytics and kidney transplant tests company Verici Dx.
Lord Nash – who has donated more than £237,000 to the Tories since 2010 – has shares in private care homes provider Care UK, his register of interests states.
Staff who work for a government bent on privatising the NHS have also had links with health firms.
Last February, Boris Johnson made ex-private health executive Samantha Jones No 10’s Head of People.
She had been chief of Operose.
In November, Rishi Sunak gave Bill Morgan – a founder of lobbying firm Evoke Incisive Health – a job as health policy adviser, where he is believed to be helping drive through NHS “efficiencies”.
Evoke Incisive Health says it aims to solve “the most complex of challenges in today’s healthcare market”.
A government spokesman said: “The MPs’ Code of Conduct sets out the rules on the Registration and Declaration of Members’ Interests. The Commissioner for Standards has given no indication these disclosures weren’t made in full accordance with rules.”
A Conservative Party spokesman added: “This list pales compared to the millions unions donate to Labour, resulting in MPs ordered to vote against laws to keep the public safe in strikes.”
But a Labour source said: “The best advert for private healthcare is long NHS waiting times. The Tories have delivered the longest in history. Private healthcare has never had it so good.”
