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New Cross Hospital and Richard Branson both bidding for Staffordshire cancer care and end of life services

Bosses at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital are bidding alongside Sir Richard Branson for a huge contract to provide cancer care and end of life services in Staffordshire.

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A shortlist of seven companies has been drawn up by health bosses to provide the services and bosses at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust said they were pleased their bid had reached the next stage.

But the health trust is also up against bids from the likes of Sir Richard's Virgin Care Ltd.

The way services are managed in the county are being overhauled, with 10-year contracts worth £689 million and £535m up for grabs.

Campaigners reacted angrily to the move and dubbed it as 'privatisation by the back door'.

Companies to be shortlisted for cancer care include CSC Computer Sciences Ltd, Interserve Investments, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, United Health UK and University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust.

Meanwhile the shortlist for end of life care include CSC Computer Sciences Ltd, Health Management Ltd, Interserve Investments, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, United Health UK, University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust and Virgin Care Ltd.

Health chiefs say all the organisations were subject to rigorous scrutiny and evaluation during the first stage of applying by teams including clinicians, commissioners and patient champions and representatives.

The procurement process will run until summer 2015.

Andy Donald, chief officer for Stafford and Surrounds and Cannock Chase clinical commissioning groups, said: "Our aim is to deliver the best possible cancer and end of life care for patients in Staffordshire so today's announcement represents a significant milestone for our programme.

"We will be continuing to listen and gather feedback from our communities to ensure we reach our goal of delivering care that is among the best in Europe right here in Staffordshire."

Nigel Pye, spokesman for The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said: "We can confirm that we have been successful in getting through the first stage (pre-qualification stage) for both the cancer and end-of-life contracts.

"We are pleased that our submission was deemed successful by the commissioner and the rest of the panel and that we have been shortlisted for the next stages of the process.

"We cannot say anything else at this stage due to the nature of the tendering process."

Staffordshire County Council's health chief, Councillor Alan White added: "The CCG is undertaking a process about how to get the best care for the citizens of Staffordshire and who they select will be the best provider. It's a matter for them."

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