Nick Seddon
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This article is part of the Health Portal project of Spinwatch. |
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This article is part of the Revolving Door project of Spinwatch. |
Nick Seddon served as a special adviser to the former UK prime minister David Cameron, from May 2013 to July 2016, for which he earned an annual salary of £88,000. [1] His brief covered health, social care and life sciences. He developed a trusted relationship with Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, with whom he worked closely in devising his blueprint for the future of the NHS published in 2014. [2]
In February 2017, Seddon became the executive vice president of the US firm Optum, which has been involved in several NHS privatisation initiatives. [3]
Lobbying for private healthcare
Before joining the Number 10 policy unit, Seddon was deputy director of Reform - a right-leaning free market think tank which receives funding from healthcare and insurance companies.
Before this, Seddon was head of communications for Circle, the first private healthcare company to run an NHS hospital, Hinchingbrooke.
Before joining No 10 under Labour, he also led the ‘cross-government delivery unit for the Health, Work and Wellbeing Strategy’, supporting Dame Carol Black’s review of the health of Britain’s workforce. [4]
Seddon's salary for his health adviser position is £78,000 annually. [5]
NHS privatisation
Seddon's appointment as executive vice president of the private health firm Optum comes amid concerns the health service could form part of a post-Brexit trade deal between America and Britain, with US insurers and private health companies potentially given the opportunity to provide NHS services.
Optum is part of multinational insurance firm UnitedHealth Group, which made more than $8.4bn in 2015. [6]
Affiliations
Resources
- Joe Murphy, Controversy over new Tory health advisor Nick Seddon who called for NHS cuts and charges for GP visits, Evening Standard, 9 May 2013
- Andrew Robertson, "This Can't Go On" - Cameron hires private health lobbyist into the heart of government, 13 May 2013, OpenDemocracy
- Nick Seddon, Why the NHS needs a regulator, The Telegraph, 18 May 2011
- See Powerbase's Private Healthcare Network Map
Notes
- ↑ List special advisers in post at 17 December 2015, GOV.uk, accessed 6 February 2017.
- ↑ Sarah Neville and Kate Allen, Head of NHS England picks a fight with government over spending, Financial Times, 11 January 2017, accessed 6 February 2017.
- ↑ Katie Forster, Former Tory government health adviser joins US firm involved in NHS privatisation, The Independent, 3 February 2017, accessed 6 February 2017.
- ↑ Guide to No.10 The House Parliament's Magazine, 03.2014, accessed 8 October 2014
- ↑ Special advisers in post, 30 November 2014 GOV.UK, accessed 28 April 2015
- ↑ US firms look to capitalise as NHS becomes increasingly privatised, The Guardian, 8 February 2016, accessed 6 February 2017.
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