INSIDER JOB
HIGH PRAISE from health secretary Wes Streeting for his department’s new permanent secretary Samantha Jones, whose “wealth of experience from the frontline of healthcare” includes working for US and private equity-owned healthcare firms chasing public contracts.
In 2019 Jones, a former NHS England director, became chief executive officer of Operose Health, then-owned by US health giant Centene. Operose bought up GP practices, leading to protests by campaigners who feared it would put profits before proper NHS procedures. Jones left Operose in March 2021; and in early 2022 a BBC investigation confirmed campaigner fears: an undercover reporter said she found evidence Operose let less qualified staff see patients without adequate supervision, using “physician associates” instead of fully qualified doctors.