Information Hub
Social Enterprise and health
- Public services are becoming more demunicipalised.
- There is an opportunity for social enterprise to drive the modern agenda in public services. It will, however, be a big challenge to compete against companies from the private sector who have the ability to access capital, technology, and other resources at speed.
- Social enterprise is in a distinctive position, as they operate without having to generate profit for private shareholders, and are more likely to work within a public sector ethos.
- New and emerging social enterprises are operating in the healthcare arena, and we expect this to increase in the future.
- Social enterprises are also emerging from the public sector, who have the advantage of knowing how services can be best delivered.
- At Social Enterprise London, we look forward to working with a range of successfully run social businesses working in healthcare.
- ECT is a highly successful social enterprise that has piloted a unique healthcare model with a clinic that demonstrates how costs can be reduced while standards are improved. A nurse practitioner, a practice nurse and a practice manager run Cuckoo Lane Surgery in West London. ECT, one of the UK’s leading social enterprises (specialising in recycling throughout the UK) runs the practice’s back-of-office functions, allowing clinical staff to concentrate on treating patients. The staff, including a GP, are salaried and any profit is automatically reinvested into providing patient services.
- South East London Doctor’s Co-operative (SELDOC) is owned, managed and financed by its GP members. It serves 1 million patients in 3 London boroughs and has been consistently successful at streamlining services and ensuring that the most vulnerable are able to access quality healthcare when they need it. The fact that SELDOC GPs work in a co-operative creates a stronger sense of a stakeholder community that translates into reinvestment of profit into additional health services for local communities.
For further information please contact 020 7022 1920
