Category: Wales
Date: 27.09.2005
Printable version
91Èȱ¬ Wales' award-winning current affairs series Taro Naw will tonight (Tuesday 27 September) raise serious questions about the background and lack of experience of the company responsible for one of the most important frontline medical services in Wales.
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Cardiff Local Health Board denies that anyone has been misled about the previous experience of the company but tonight's Taro Naw, shown on S4C at 8.25pm, reveals new evidence which raises serious questions about the way the company was appointed.
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Many local doctors were stunned when Cardiff Local Health Board awarded a £1.9m contract to Clinical Solutions UK/Europe to run the GP Out of Hours service in Cardiff.
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Cardiff Local Health Board claimed they were part of a large American parent company called Clinical Solutions Group. In reality, the two companies were totally separate.
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The Auditor General published a report in August, detailing a number of deficiencies in the way Cardiff Local Health Board (CLHB) had researched the background of the company.
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However, the Auditor General concluded that the tender process had been "fair and robust", as CLHB maintained that the international experience of the company had not influenced the result.
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Under the Freedom of Information Act, Taro Naw asked for all the internal tender documents which the CLHB had in relation to the tender process.
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The content of the documents, disclosed on Taro Naw, suggest that members of CLHB were under the impression that Clinical Solutions UK/Europe were part of a much larger group.
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Taro Naw has also spoken to a member of the panel responsible for assessing the individual bids for the Out of Hours contract in Cardiff.
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Dr John Watkins was the only member of the panel who advised the LHB not to award the contract to Clinical Solutions UK/Europe.
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He maintains that Clinical Solutions UK/Europe's presentation left him with the impression that they were part of a much larger company - Clinical Solutions Group.
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Cardiff Local Health Board says it was aware that Clinical Solutions UK/Europe weren't part of Clinical Solutions Group before awarding them the contract.
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However, in a letter to Clinical Solutions UK/Europe, the Chief Executive of Cardiff Local Health Board, Sian Richards, asked for a parent company guarantee.
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To this day, Cardiff Local Health Board has not obtained a parent company guarantee from Clinical Solutions Group, as there is no relationship between Clinical Solutions UK/Europe and Clinical Solutions Group.
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Last week, the statutory body responsible for representing patients' interests in Cardiff - Cardiff Community Health Council - passed a motion of no confidence in Sian Richards and the Executive Board of Cardiff Local Health Board.
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Many members were furious, claiming that they had been lied to regarding the relationship between Clinical Solutions UK/Europe and Clinical Solutions Group.
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Clinical Solution UK/Europe has since been sold to Serco.
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However, Andrew Preston, former Chief Executive of Clinical Solutions UK/Europe, and other of the former company's officials still run the Out of Hours service in Cardiff under the name Healthcare Services 24.
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Taro Naw asks whether this could happen again to other essential frontline healthcare services in Wales.
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Taro Naw, Tuesday 27 September 2005, 91Èȱ¬ Wales on S4C, 8.25pm, Subtitles 888.
