Difference between revisions of "McKinsey & Company"

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====UK: the privatisation of NHS (2010-)====
'''McKinsey & Company''' is a global management consultancy, advising senior management of many of the world's most powerful corporations, as well as governments, institutions and philanthropic foundations.  
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McKinsey has been embedded in the UK health system for decades and has played a central role in efforts in recent decades to marketise and privatise the NHS. It has advised on reform of the NHS at every level of the system: the Department of Health, the health regulator, regional health bodies and local healthcare buyers (the new GP-led 'commissioning groups').  
  
Its advice spans a range of business practices, including: technology, corporate finance, marketing and sales, operations, risk, and strategy.
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=====McKinsey alumni embedded in NHS=====
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It has been helped in this by having former employees (see alumni network below) in central positions in the UK's health system. In recent years these have included:
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*[[David Bennett]]; CEO of the health sector regulator, Monitor (2010-2015); spent 18 years with Mckinsey
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*[[Adrian Masters]]; 'managing director of sector development', and former strategy director of NHS regulator, Monitor (2005-); ex-Mckinsey
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*[[Paul Bate]]: 'director of strategy and intelligence' at the healthcare provider regulator, the Care Quality Commission; ex-Mckinsey
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*[[Sigurd Reinton]]; board member of NHS regulator, Monitor (2012-); spent 20 years with Mckinsey
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*[[Tim Kelsey]]: 'national director for patients and information' (2012-2015) at [[NHS England]], one of only 8 national directors in charge of the NHS; ex-Mckinsey (where he led on 'the development of consumer propositions in public services’)
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*[[Kingsley Manning]], chair of the [[Health and Social Care Information Centre]], custodians of NHS patient data; ex-Mckinsey
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*[[Penny Dash]], former Department of Health head of strategy and planning, co-author of the NHS Plan of 2000, which initiated the marketisation process; current McKinsey director in London office, focused on 'the redesign of healthcare systems'.<ref>[http://www.mckinsey.com/client_service/healthcare_systems_and_services/people/penny_dash Penny Dash profile], McKinsey website, accessed November 2015</ref>
  
Established in 1926, the company operates in more than 60 countries and made $8 billion in 2014. It remains privately-held.
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=====McKinsey ready to 'dive in and start trying to help'=====
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In 2010, the UK coalition government, led by the [[Conservative Party]] embarked on its structural reform of the NHS. The scale of the planned changes was massive: the then head of the NHS, [[David Nicholson]] famously described them as so big as to be ‘visible from space’.  
  
==Scandal==
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A week before the health secretary, [[Andrew Lansley]] presented his controversial Health and Social Care Bill to Parliament on 19th January 2011, McKinsey executives leapt into action. In a document released under FOI dated 11 January, a consultant from McKinsey contacts key health officials with the news that: 'We now have SoS [Secretary of State] approval for me to start working with you good folks again… I’d like to dive in and start trying to help.'<ref>[http://powerbase.info/images/8/83/Redacted_final_BH_email_exchanges.pdf Email from McKinsey to senior health officials: Barbara Hakin, Ian Dalton, Jim Easton, David Flory; 11 January 2011], released under FOI Act</ref>
McKinsey's fingerprints can be found at the scene of some of the most spectacular corporate and financial debacles of recent decades.  
 
  
===Enron: 'the house that McKinsey rebuilt'===
 
The collapse of energy-trading giant, Enron in 2001 was one of the most high-profile corporate scandals in recent decades. Enron's extraordinary growth – it become America's 7th biggest company in just 15 years – turned out to have involved an elaborate scam. Enron lied about its profits and concealed debts so they didn't show up in the company's accounts. Shareholders lost $74bn, thousands of investors lost their retirement pots, and many more lost their jobs. Enron CEO [[Jeffrey Skilling]] and former CEO [[Kenneth Lay]], as well as its former chief financial officer, [[Andrew Fastow]], were handed prison sentences for a range of crimes, including: fraud, money laundering, insider trading, making false statements to banks and auditors, and conspiracy.
 
  
The one Enron partner that was said to have escaped largely unscathed is McKinsey, which is odd, writes ''The New Yorker's'' Malcolm Gladwell, 'given that it essentially created the blueprint for the Enron culture.'<ref>Malcolm Gladwell, [http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/07/22/the-talent-myth The Talent Myth], "The New Yorker", 22 July 2002</ref> McKinsey were also directly employed by Enron and the consultancy was key in Enron's massive growth and diversification. Under Mr Skilling, himself a former McKinsey employee, Enron was reportedly paying the firm $10m (£6m) a year for advice. McKinsey fully endorsed the dubious accounting methods that caused the company to implode. The firm's dealings with Enron, however, were kept almost totally secret in the media despite McKinsey employees attending Enron board meetings and public appearances. <ref>Jamie Doward [http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2002/mar/24/enron.theobserver 'The firm that built the house of Enron'] The Observer, 24 March 2002. Accessed 01/02/10</ref> <ref>Clayton Hirst, [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/the-might-of-the-mckinsey-mob-664081.html 'The might of the McKinsey mob: It's big in business and politics and is Britain's most powerful old boys' network'] the Independent, 20 January 2002. Accessed 01/02/10</ref><ref>Ben Chu, [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/mckinsey-how-does-it-always-get-away-with-it-9113484.html McKinsey: How does it always get away with it?] ''Independent'', 7 February 2014</ref>
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  McKinsey was already gathering its thinking on the implications of the reforms and had ‘started to share this with clients’, it wrote. The firm also appears to be acting as a bridge between the public and private sectors. Internal emails from the Department of Health show McKinsey connecting the capital’s health officials with one of Germany’s largest private hospital chains, Helios, to discuss ‘potential opportunities’ to take over public hospitals in London. McKinsey also advised them how to minimise public resistance to the privatisation of hospitals: start ‘from a mindset [of] one at a time,’ it warned.
 
 
As the ''Observer'' noted in the wake of the scandal: 'Enron is the house that McKinsey rebuilt.' 'The processes and principles [Skilling] allowed were very McKinsey', it notes. Meanwhile, McKinsey 'used Enron as their sandbox'.
 
 
 
===Encouraging risk on Wall Street===
 
McKinsey has advised 'virtually all of the Wall Street banks' in recent years. According to Ben Chu, writing in the ''Independent'', McKinsey's consultants promoted the securitisation of mortgage assets, 'the practice that poisoned the global financial system and precipitated the 2008 credit meltdown'. The firm also encouraged the banks to fund their balance sheets with debt, driving up risk.<ref>Ben Chu, [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/mckinsey-how-does-it-always-get-away-with-it-9113484.html McKinsey: How does it always get away with it?] ''Independent'', 7 February 2014</ref>
 
 
 
===Insider trading===
 
In recent years two former McKinsey senior executives were convicted of insider trading.
 
 
 
In January 2010 [[Anil Kumar]], a former McKinsey director, pleaded guilty to insider trading charges and publicly acknowledged giving corporate secrets gleaned on the job to Raj Rajaratnam, a founder of the Galleon Group hedge fund, in return for cash. More damaging for the firm, however, was the conviction in 2012 for insider trading of [[Rajat Gupta]], who ran McKinsey for ten years. He also leaked boardroom secrets to the hedge fund billionaire.<ref>Joanna Chung and Alan Rappeport, [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fbe2a058-fbf6-11de-9c29-00144feab49a.html?nclick_check=1 Ex-McKinsey director Kumar took $1.75m for tips to Galleon] The Financial Times, January 8 2010. Accessed 01/02/10</ref><ref>[http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/06/15/rajat-gupta-convicted-of-insider-trading Rajat Gupta Convicted of Insider Trading], ''New York Times'', 15 June 2012</ref>
 
 
 
==Privatisations and public sector 'reform'==
 
McKinsey is a believer in markets, the private sector provision of services and reducing the role of the public sector in delivering public services. It has controversially advised many national and regional governments on opening up their public sectors to private sector companies.
 
 
 
As ''Management Today'' commented in 2013: McKinsey 'is seen as a neo-liberal stooge promoting a market-oriented public sector into which its private clients might be helped to win lucrative contracts'.<ref>Matthew Gwyther, [http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/news/1189719/mckinsey-head-dominic-barton-we-dont-dominate-brain-pool McKinsey head Dominic Barton: 'We don't dominate the brain pool'], ''Management Today'', 10 July 2013</ref>
 
 
 
===Healthcare===
 
McKinsey says it works 'with healthcare leaders to improve world health outcomes'.<ref>[http://www.mckinsey.com/Client_Service/healthcare_systems_and_services/About_this_practice Healthcare Systems & Services], McKinsey website, accessed November 2015</ref>This includes helping national and regional government 'to transform care delivery and make it more sustainable', which has involved the widespread privatisation of services (see 'UK: the privatisation of NHS' below). At the same time McKinsey, earns most of its revenue from advising corporations: health insurers, private hospital groups, pharmaceutical companies, tech interests and investors – in other words companies that might benefit from the opening up of public services. McKinsey is, however, famously tight-lipped about the identities of its private sector clients. Who they work for and what they do for them is confidential.
 
 
 
====UK: the privatisation of NHS====
 
McKinsey has been embedded in the UK health system for decades, recently earning many millions from advising on reform of the NHS at every level of the system: the Department of Health, the health regulator, regional health bodies and local healthcare buyers (the new GP-led 'commissioning groups').
 
 
 
It has been helped in this by having former employees (see alumni network below) in key positions. For example:
 
*David Bennett; CEO of the NHS regulator, Monitor (2010-2015); ex-McKinsey
 
*Adrian Masters; Managing Director, Sector Development; former director of strategy at Monitor; ex-Mckinsey
 
 
 
As the Coalition was embarking on its changes to the NHS, McKinsey was already gathering its thinking on the implications of the reforms and had ‘started to share this with clients’, it wrote. The firm also appears to be acting as a bridge between the public and private sectors. Internal emails from the Department of Health show McKinsey connecting the capital’s health officials with one of Germany’s largest private hospital chains, Helios, to discuss ‘potential opportunities’ to take over public hospitals in London. McKinsey also advised them how to minimise public resistance to the privatisation of hospitals: start ‘from a mindset [of] one at a time,’ it warned.
 
  
 
In 2015 [[NHS England]] announced a new list of approved suppliers to the NHS. The list is dominated by outsourcing giants [[Capita]]; management consultancies PwC and [[KPMG]]; and US health insurer [[UnitedHealth]]. NHS England insists the companies who are bidding for contracts to supply support services to the GP-led commission groups will supply a range of back office functions, cutting procurement times and allowing doctors to focus on how best to spend their £70bn share of the NHS budget.' All of the firms are members of the [[Commissioning Support Industry Group]], a 'low-profile body that affords them regular access to the senior NHS officials overseeing the creation of the new market in commissioning services.' Other members of the Group include management firms [[Ernst and Young]] and McKinsey who have also been awarded prominent roles.<ref> Jamie Doward [http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/02/nhs-land-grab-private-firms-health-privatisation-fears Fears grow over ‘land grab’ of NHS by private suppliers] ''Guardian'', 2 May 2015, accessed 4 May 2015.</ref>
 
In 2015 [[NHS England]] announced a new list of approved suppliers to the NHS. The list is dominated by outsourcing giants [[Capita]]; management consultancies PwC and [[KPMG]]; and US health insurer [[UnitedHealth]]. NHS England insists the companies who are bidding for contracts to supply support services to the GP-led commission groups will supply a range of back office functions, cutting procurement times and allowing doctors to focus on how best to spend their £70bn share of the NHS budget.' All of the firms are members of the [[Commissioning Support Industry Group]], a 'low-profile body that affords them regular access to the senior NHS officials overseeing the creation of the new market in commissioning services.' Other members of the Group include management firms [[Ernst and Young]] and McKinsey who have also been awarded prominent roles.<ref> Jamie Doward [http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/02/nhs-land-grab-private-firms-health-privatisation-fears Fears grow over ‘land grab’ of NHS by private suppliers] ''Guardian'', 2 May 2015, accessed 4 May 2015.</ref>
 
===UK:rail privatisation===
 
[[Railtrack]], the track operator created in 1994 as part of the privatisation of British Rail, is a good example of McKinsey networks at work.
 
 
For example, Railtrack's former CEO [[Gerald Corbett]] has links with one of its former board members, the Tory MP and ex-McKinsey man, [[Archie Norman]]. There is also a link with Kingfisher chief Sir [[Geoff Mulcahy]], who subsequently appointed Mr Corbett to run [[Woolworths]], until recently owned by [[Kingfisher]]. Archie Norman was once Sir Geoff's finance director at Kingfisher. Kingfisher is a big customer of McKinsey, and the retail group's former chairman, Sir [[John Banham]], is a former McKinsey partner.
 
 
McKinsey has been accused of contributing to and profiting from Railtrack's collapse in 2002. According to reports, in the late 1990s Corbett commissioned McKinsey to devise a blueprint for Railtrack. The central recommendation was that Railtrack should "sweat" its assets. This meant replacing its cyclical system of rail maintenance with a programme where infrastructure was mended on an as-and-when basis. "The theme was very much that we should get the most out of the assets before we renewed them," says a Railtrack insider. <ref>Clayton Hirst, [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/the-might-of-the-mckinsey-mob-664081.html 'The might of the McKinsey mob: It's big in business and politics and is Britain's most powerful old boys' network'] the Independent, 20 January 2002. Accessed 01/02/10</ref>
 
 
Railtrack's approach to limiting repairs on its infrastructure resulted in accidents and their ultimate demise. A 2002 article in the Independent commented on McKinsey's role:
 
:'Once it has been paid millions to create something, it can knock it down again, as is about to happen at [[Railtrack]].'
 
 
 
===India: agricultural reform===
 
In 2002 McKinsey were contracted by the Andhra Pradesh government in India to create a development plan which would bring them into the global economy.
 
 
The document it produced, entitled 'Vision 20/20, cost the Andhra government £3 million and advocates the industrialisation of farming and the influx of energy intensive industries to the region, boasting of India's exceptionally cheap wage labour (e.g  $0.24/hour for textiles manufacture). The [[Department for International Development]] (DfID) offered £65 million to the project, which would benefit British corporations and industrial interests, but arguably exacerbate real poverty in the area.<ref>Corporate Watch,[http://archive.corporatewatch.org/news/vision_20_20.htm 'Vision 20/20: Blinded by Development'] Newsletter 8, April-May 2002. accessed 1/01/10</ref> According to a [http://archive.corporatewatch.org/news/vision_20_20.htm Corporate Watch article] a DfID spokesman said:
 
 
:'Vision 20/20 is going ahead…Our aim is to take farmers out of the poverty they and their families have been in for centuries. The only way to do so is by modernisation, commercial consolidation of farms and the introduction of up to date farming methods, including the use of pesticides and machines and GM crops.' <ref>Corporate Watch,[http://archive.corporatewatch.org/news/vision_20_20.htm 'Vision 20/20: Blinded by Development'] Newsletter 8, April-May 2002. accessed 1/01/10</ref>
 
 
In response the [[International Institute for Environment and Development]], the [[University of Hyderabad]] and other bodies, created a 'citizens jury' which analysed the evidence around the Vision 20/20 strategy and unanimously rejected it. Their objections included claims that 20 million farmers would lose their land and livelihoods and fail to find other employment (being of lower castes); that there would be mass displacement; environmentally and socially destructive farming practices; bias towards export crops and goods at the expense of the local economy.<ref>Corporate Watch,[http://archive.corporatewatch.org/news/vision_20_20.htm 'Vision 20/20: Blinded by Development'] Newsletter 8, April-May 2002. accessed 1/01/10</ref>
 
 
Corporate Watch note the implicit bias in the involvement of McKinsey, who represent large corporate interests and help them to maximise profits, in developing a poverty alleviation plan, especially at great expense (£3m) to the local government, money which could arguably have gone some way towards really alleviating the poverty in the state. <ref>Corporate Watch,[http://archive.corporatewatch.org/news/vision_20_20.htm 'Vision 20/20: Blinded by Development'] Newsletter 8, April-May 2002. accessed 1/01/10</ref>
 
 
 
===India: mining reforms===
 
McKinsey's report 'Turning the minerals and metals potential of eastern India into a gold mine' suggests that exploiting the deposits (mostly bauxite, coal and iron ore) in three East Indian states - Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa could lead to an 'unprecedented economic boom'. However, they note that; 
 
:Capturing this potential however will require a concerted and coordinated effort by industry players and the government.'<ref>McKinsey and Co, and the Confederation of Indian Industry, [http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/india/mckinseyonindia/pdf/Turning_Minerals_Mining_Potential.pdf 'Turning the minerals and metals potential of eastern India into a gold mine] accessed 19/07/10</ref>
 
 
This area of East India contains some of the largest concentrations of Scheduled tribes, and reserved forest in India, and has already been the subject of major controversy over mining and refinery projects which have destroyed forest reserves, displaced tribal communities and been approved despite massive local resistance. Felix and Padels book 'Out of This Earth: East India Adivasis and the Aluminium Cartel' documents mining and metals developments in these states highlighting the clash of cultures between companies and the Government- looking for profit, and the needs of local people, who's livelihoods are invariably left in tatters by the health, environmental, social and economic ill-effects of mining projects. The book documents hundreds of environmental and human rights abuses, and collaboration between the legal system, companies, foreign aid agencies, consultancies and the government which have led to illegal and damaging projects<ref>Das, S. and Padel, F. 2010,'Out of this earth: East India Adivasis and the aluminium cartel' Orient Blackswan </ref>.
 
 
McKinsey's report recommends; reducing clearance ands approval time and hurdles for mining projects, de-regulating the mining sector and privatising government mining companies and bodies, creating faster and cheaper infrastructure, providing cheaper power supply (coal or hyrdo-power).
 
Their more detailed recommendations include creating 'Special Mining Zones' where conservation areas such as reserved forest are de-registered<ref>McKinsey and Co, and the Confederation of Indian Industry, [http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/india/mckinseyonindia/pdf/Turning_Minerals_Mining_Potential.pdf 'Turning the minerals and metals potential of eastern India into a gold mine] accessed 19/07/10</ref>.
 
 
 
 
==Culture==
 
McKinsey has a strong reputation for advancing the interests of its clients partly through strict and ruthless employment rules and organisational strategy. These include:
 
*The 'up or out' policy, whereby staff must either get regularly promoted or be fired, encouraging a particularly rapacious breed of employee, eager to maximise the profit of clients and the firm.
 
*Non-exclusivity, whereby they will accept any client, even if they are direct competitors of another client. Though this rule requires absolute confidentiality, it works to their advantage as they can attract competing companies who are keen to get the same high profile advice.
 
 
 
==Political reach==
 
===Alumni: the 'ultimate old boys' network===
 
McKinsey has been described as acting as the "ultimate old boys' network" as past employees and clients become part of the 'alumni network' which includes Enron boss [[Jeffrey Skilling]] and Tory leader [[William Hague]]. According to a 2002 Independent article:
 
 
:One source close to McKinsey says: "The alumni are seen as ambassadors to the McKinsey brand. The network isn't openly exploited, but the firm maintains a database of members and holds an annual reception for the alumni." <ref>Clayton Hirst, [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/the-might-of-the-mckinsey-mob-664081.html 'The might of the McKinsey mob: It's big in business and politics and is Britain's most powerful old boys' network'] the Independent, 20 January 2002. Accessed 01/02/10</ref>
 
 
===Political connections: UK===
 
:[[Matthew Elson]], a former McKinsey senior partner, has become transport adviser in the Downing Street Policy Unit. Also working on transport is [[Nick Lovegrove]], another senior McKinsey partner. He has agreed to work for nothing with his old friend Lord Birt, the former BBC director-general, on a similar transport study.
 
 
:It's not the first time Mr Lovegrove, who would normally charge clients well over £1,000 a day, has offered his services to the Government for free. In 1998 he wrote a report on productivity that formed the backbone of Lord Falconer's reforms to the town and country planning system.
 
 
:Another ex-McKinsey partner drafted into Lord Birt's "Forward Strategy Unit" is [[Adair Turner]]. He is a former head of the [[Confederation of British Industry]], which boasts three past and one present McKinsey-trained director-generals.<ref>Clayton Hirst, [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/the-might-of-the-mckinsey-mob-664081.html 'The might of the McKinsey mob: It's big in business and politics and is Britain's most powerful old boys' network'] the Independent, 20 January 2002. Accessed 01/02/10</ref>
 
 
 
==People==
 
 
===Senior managers/directors===
 
 
Due partly to the company structure, which lacks an executive board, there is very little information on senior employees on the firm's website.
 
 
In 2009:
 
 
*[[Ian Davis]] CEO (age 58) <ref>Forbes website [http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/21/private-companies-09_McKinsey-Co_IPPW.html America's Largest Private Companies] October 28, 2009. Accessed 01/02/10</ref>
 
*[[Dominic Barton]] Managing Director <ref>McKinsey & Company website [http://www.mckinsey.com/aboutus/whoweare/md/index.asp Who We Are] accessed 01/01/10</ref>
 
 
===Alumni===
 
 
A 2008 USA Today article reported that McKinsey were the top company worldwide for producing CEOs from its alumni. <ref>Del Jones [http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2008-01-08-ceo-companies_N.htm 'Some firms' fertile soil grows crop of future CEOs'] USA Today, 1/9/2008. Accessed 01/02/10</ref>
 
 
Some of McKinsey notable alumni are:
 
*[[Louis Gerstner]], Jr. - former chairman and CEO of [[IBM]] and chairman of The [[Carlyle Group]],
 
*[[William Hague]] - Ex-Tory leader
 
*[[James McNerney]] - chairman and CEO of [[Boeing]],
 
*[[Helmut Panke]] - former chairman and CEO of [[BMW]] AG,
 
*[[Christopher Sinclair]] - former chairman and CEO of [[PepsiCo]],
 
*[[James Gorman]] - Co-President of [[Morgan Stanley]],
 
*[[Stephen Green]] - chairman of [[HSBC]],
 
*[[Jonathan Schwartz]], CEO of [[Sun Microsystems]],
 
*[[Jeffrey Skilling]], former (now incarcerated) CEO of [[Enron]],
 
*[[Marius Kloppers]] - CEO of [[BHP Billiton]],
 
*[[Bobby Jindal]], current Governor of Louisiana,
 
*[[Vittorio Colao]], CEO of [[Vodafone]].
 
*[[Chelsea Clinton]], daughter of former President and present Secretary of State Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
 
 
==McKinsey Quarterly==
 
 
McKinsey publish a quarterly journal giving advice on market exploitation in various areas. Their 'Food and Agriculture' section contains articles on supermarkets, the brewing industry, genetic modification and selling packaged food to the Chinese. <ref>Corporate Watch,[http://archive.corporatewatch.org/news/vision_20_20.htm 'Vision 20/20: Blinded by Development'] Newsletter 8, April-May 2002. accessed 1/01/10</ref>
 
 
==Clients==
 
 
==Contact==
 
55 East 52nd Street
 
New York NY 10022
 
Phone: 212-446-7000
 
Fax: 212-446-8575
 
 
http://www.mckinsey.com
 
 
==Resources==
 
See: [[The Corporate Capture of the NHS]]
 
*Tamasin Cave, [http://www.spinwatch.org/index.php/issues/lobbying/item/5759-the-privatising-cabal-at-the-heart-of-our-nhs The privatising cabal at the heart of our NHS] ''Spinwatch'', 1 April 2015.
 
 
==Notes==
 
 
<references/>
 
[[Category:Revolving Door]][[Category:Private healthcare]][[Category:Healthcare Industry]]
 

Revision as of 22:25, 5 November 2015

UK: the privatisation of NHS (2010-)

McKinsey has been embedded in the UK health system for decades and has played a central role in efforts in recent decades to marketise and privatise the NHS. It has advised on reform of the NHS at every level of the system: the Department of Health, the health regulator, regional health bodies and local healthcare buyers (the new GP-led 'commissioning groups').

McKinsey alumni embedded in NHS

It has been helped in this by having former employees (see alumni network below) in central positions in the UK's health system. In recent years these have included:

  • David Bennett; CEO of the health sector regulator, Monitor (2010-2015); spent 18 years with Mckinsey
  • Adrian Masters; 'managing director of sector development', and former strategy director of NHS regulator, Monitor (2005-); ex-Mckinsey
  • Paul Bate: 'director of strategy and intelligence' at the healthcare provider regulator, the Care Quality Commission; ex-Mckinsey
  • Sigurd Reinton; board member of NHS regulator, Monitor (2012-); spent 20 years with Mckinsey
  • Tim Kelsey: 'national director for patients and information' (2012-2015) at NHS England, one of only 8 national directors in charge of the NHS; ex-Mckinsey (where he led on 'the development of consumer propositions in public services’)
  • Kingsley Manning, chair of the Health and Social Care Information Centre, custodians of NHS patient data; ex-Mckinsey
  • Penny Dash, former Department of Health head of strategy and planning, co-author of the NHS Plan of 2000, which initiated the marketisation process; current McKinsey director in London office, focused on 'the redesign of healthcare systems'.[1]
McKinsey ready to 'dive in and start trying to help'

In 2010, the UK coalition government, led by the Conservative Party embarked on its structural reform of the NHS. The scale of the planned changes was massive: the then head of the NHS, David Nicholson famously described them as so big as to be ‘visible from space’.

A week before the health secretary, Andrew Lansley presented his controversial Health and Social Care Bill to Parliament on 19th January 2011, McKinsey executives leapt into action. In a document released under FOI dated 11 January, a consultant from McKinsey contacts key health officials with the news that: 'We now have SoS [Secretary of State] approval for me to start working with you good folks again… I’d like to dive in and start trying to help.'[2]


McKinsey was already gathering its thinking on the implications of the reforms and had ‘started to share this with clients’, it wrote. The firm also appears to be acting as a bridge between the public and private sectors. Internal emails from the Department of Health show McKinsey connecting the capital’s health officials with one of Germany’s largest private hospital chains, Helios, to discuss ‘potential opportunities’ to take over public hospitals in London. McKinsey also advised them how to minimise public resistance to the privatisation of hospitals: start ‘from a mindset [of] one at a time,’ it warned.

In 2015 NHS England announced a new list of approved suppliers to the NHS. The list is dominated by outsourcing giants Capita; management consultancies PwC and KPMG; and US health insurer UnitedHealth. NHS England insists the companies who are bidding for contracts to supply support services to the GP-led commission groups will supply a range of back office functions, cutting procurement times and allowing doctors to focus on how best to spend their £70bn share of the NHS budget.' All of the firms are members of the Commissioning Support Industry Group, a 'low-profile body that affords them regular access to the senior NHS officials overseeing the creation of the new market in commissioning services.' Other members of the Group include management firms Ernst and Young and McKinsey who have also been awarded prominent roles.[3]