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MPs say health department broke rules when it gave contract to Dr Foster

BMJ 2007; 335 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39279.693565.DB (Published 19 July 2007) Cite this as: BMJ 2007;335:119
  1. Michael Day
  1. London

    The Department of Health broke guidelines on competitive tendering in handing a £12m (€18m; $24m) research contract “on a plate” to the private health information firm Dr Foster LLP, a parliamentary committee report has said.

    In a highly critical report the Committee of Public Accounts (PAC) said that the “degree of favouritism in the choice of company and the haste with which the deal was concluded show a disregard for the rules governing the use of public money.”

    The committee's chairman, Edward Leigh, added: “Without the competitive pressure inherent in a tender process, the department's Information Centre simply cannot demonstrate that it paid the best price for its 50% share of the joint …

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