30 January 2003 ]
Stitched up: How the Big Four accountancy firms have PFI under their thumbs
(PDF)
Report on the revolving door between UK government and the 'Big Four'
accountancy firms, illustrating the means by which they simultaneously
devise and profit from New Labour's privatisation policies ( Unison )
»
See also this press release, this Guardian coverage, this BBC article, and
this earlier Unison report (PDF)
»
The Big Four are PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte &
Touche
Competition and Quality: Evidence from the NHS Internal Market 1991-99 (PDF)
'Payer-driven competition has been widely advocated as a means of
increasing efficiency in health care markets. The 1990s reforms to the UK
health service followed this path. We examine whether competition led to
better outcomes for patients, as measured by death rates after treatment
following heart attacks. Using data on mortality as a measure of hospital
quality and exploiting the policy change during the 1990s, we find that the
relationship between competition and some measures of quality of care
appears to be negative.'
( Carol Propper et al via CMPO )
»
See also this press release (PDF, page 7), this commentary by Polly
Toynbee, and this blog entry from Monday
Fuel relief for vulnerable 'underfunded by £1.5bn'
Article indicating that UK ministers are suppressing a report on indequate
funding of fuel relief - 'Britain has one of the worst rates for winter
deaths among the elderly and poor in Europe. It is estimated that between
30,000 and 60,000 people die unnecessarily every winter because they do not
have enough money for fuel or live in draughty homes' ( Guardian )
»
See also this Guardian report from October, this BMJ paper from last year,
and this text of the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000 LINKS?
http://www.hullocentral.demon.co.uk/site/anfin.htm
Ernst and Young,they cook the books for RSA don't they?
