NHS privatisation drive linked to rise in avoidable deaths, study suggests

Outsourcing accelerated by Lansley's shakeup in 2012 linked to drop in care quality in landmark review

The privatisation of NHS care accelerated by Tory policies a decade ago has corresponded with a decline in quality and significantly increased" rates of death from treatable causes, the first study of its kind says.

The hugely controversial shakeup of the health service in England in 2012 by the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, in the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government, forced local health bodies to put contracts for services out to tender.