Should private equity firms be banned from buying care homes, GP surgeries and other public services?
No UK law bans private equity from buying care homes, GP practice operators or other firms delivering public services. Takeovers of NHS contract holders need commissioner approval, and the competition and national security regimes can review some deals. In 2026 the government announced a Public Interest Test for outsourced contracts over £1 million, and the competition regulator has examined US-owned groups buying more than 600 care homes. Campaigners cite cases such as the 2023 sale of Operose's London GP surgeries to a private-equity-owned group, while US lawmakers proposed a ban on private equity owning hospitals and nursing homes in 2026.
5 Opinions
I assume movies like "The Wolf of Wall Street" have given these organisations a bad name. Justifiably in some, perhaps many, cases. They wield immense power. But power should come with responsibility. If we could find legislators with the necessary expertise and enact their work with total impartiality, it's quite possible to eat this cake without anything bad happening. So... absolutely unachievable. But it's a nice thing to think about. :-)
Yes, absolutely. My wife works in the care sector. We’ve seen the impact firsthand. Private equity squeezes everyone, top to bottom. It drives up prices for residents at the high end while gutting quality in the middle through tiny budgets for food, entertainment, & trips. At the bottom end, cutting staff ratios by 25% means the remaining staff are forced to do 33% more work with zero pay increases to cover the loss. It's unsustainable for workers and unfair to residents.
I had no idea of what private equity meant, so looked it up. It doesn't sound safe for care homes, medical groups etc. There seems to be possibility that say, a struggling care home would be asset stripped instead of being improved and made viable. I don't like the idea at all, best to stop them buying health care businesses.
You shouldn't artificially distort the market. If PE is the only thing buying types of businesses, you should fix the problems that stop genuine operators buying them (shit returns, regulatory risk, etc).
There should be strict controls to prevent procurement and then asset stripping of any business, especially those providing health services