For-profit companies have made it harder for social enterprises working in the NHS, according to a spokeswoman for the social enterprise sector.
Allison Ogden-Newton, chief executive of Social Enterprise London, said that public mistrust of any non-state provider of healthcare was based on their experience of big companies. "If you asked most people if they wanted their local hospital to be managed by Serco, I think they would say no," she told a debate at the Public Procurement Live show in London. "We do want to disassociate ourselves from 'stack it high, sell it cheap and do something stupid with the profits like give it to very few people'."
But Ali Parsa, the chief executive of partly employee-owned healthcare provider Circle, said he thought that public trust had been "hijacked" by those who wanted to avoid non-state providers entering healthcare provision. He pointed out that most GPs have always been independent contractors, "and they are loved by the public".
Parsa said that patients are more likely to choose where to have an operation or procedure based on the "value proposition" of a provider than who runs them.
This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Become a Public Leaders Network member to get our weekly update direct to your inbox
