Kingsley Manning

This article is part of the Health Portal project of Spinwatch.

Kingsley Manning is the Executive Chairman for Health at Tribal, an outsourcing firm with £150m worth of UK government contracts. In 1986, he founded Newchurch Limited, which became part of Tribal in 2009. He has acted as a special adviser to the House of Commons Select Committee on Health, the Transport Select Committee and the National Audit Office.

Activities

Tribal describes itself as being 'at the heart of helping reshape the NHS. We are the largest provider of professional services to the UK healthcare sector, working with NHS organisations to improve the commissioning and provision of services. Our service delivery, advisory, and technology solutions are helping achieve better healthcare for all.' According to Manning:

The vision offered in ‘Liberating the NHS’ is appealing and makes sense. The real tests, however, are more practical and pragmatic. Making the necessary improvements in productivity and engaging the public and the GPs in major decisions about the configuration of local health services are both major challenges. These difficulties will have to be managed during a period of unparalleled transition.

Tribal works in genuine partnership with NHS organisations. We support the development of NHS staff and help them to acquire new skills and develop new tools and techniques. We are supporting the development of GP-led commissioning consortia so that they can minimise redundancy costs, protect local knowledge and become self-sufficient in the future.

Controversies

Lobbying

Pro-reform GPs are a key front in the public relations offensive behind UK health minister Andrew Lansley’s health and social care bill, which is currently going through parliament. Internal emails obtained by SpinWatch revealed that in December 2010 Manning supplied a list of friendly GPs to Bill Morgan, Lansley’s special adviser. Morgan is a former lobbyist for private health companies and Tribal confirms that it was in discussions with some of the GPs on the list about future lucrative contracts.

Manning's email said: “Further to our conversation, please find attached a list of GPs you may want to contact with respect to the launch of Consortia Pathfinders; we haven’t briefed them so somebody would need to talk to them before they were exposed to the press.”

Manning initially claimed that Tribal had “no discussions” with Lansley or his department about helping the government sell its bill. He admitted having dealings with Morgan but denied supplying tame GPs for the government’s spin campaign.

“We certainly wouldn’t do that, we are not in the business of acting as a voice piece for the government. There is significant merit in these reforms. But it is not Tribal’s policy to promote [them] on behalf of the government,” he said.

However, when told his email to Morgan had been released under freedom of information legislation, Manning claimed the special adviser had requested the list, which he admitted may contain the names of GP pathfinder consortia with whom Tribal is in commercial discussions. Manning also conceded that the government’s campaign had so far failed to persuade most patients, NHS staff and suppliers of the case for reform.

Affiliations

• Special adviser to the House of Commons Select Committee on Health

Resources

• Michael Gillard, Andy Rowell and Tamasin Cave, Revealed: Government Secretly Uses Doctors to Spin Tribal War for NHS Hearts and Minds (oh! And £80 Billion), Spinwatch, 9 March 2011

Contact

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Website: http://www.tribalgroup.com/health/Pages/default.aspx