Private providers could cause NHS to lose vital organisational skills by picking out the best talent, says NHS Chief Executive

Sir David Nicholson, chief executive of the NHS, has said that preventing the loss of organisational skills in the health service will not be easy following the publication of the white paper.

In a letter to the health service, Sir David said the lesson of past reorganisations was that there was 'a significant risk', during periods of reorganisation, of a loss of focus on quality, financial and performance disciplines as organisations and individuals go through change.

He said it was crucial that the NHS did not once again lose 'vital organisational and corporate memory' as thousands of managerial posts are cut with, according to a background paper, 'significant redundancy costs'.

However, a report in the Financial Times says that avoiding such losses 'will not be easy as private providers of support services for GP commissioners, and GP consortia themselves, seek to hoover up the best commissioning talent within primary care trusts'.

Read the full text of Sir David Nicholson's letter here: http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_117406.pdf