The CEO of a health technology company and a donor to the Conservative party, Frank Hester, is being urged to step down by general practitioners (GPs), who are the company’s primary clients in the UK. This comes after Hester’s comments about Diane Abbott, which have been heavily criticized as racist and sexist.
Hester’s company TPP runs the electronic patient records of almost half the GP practices in the UK. On Thursday the BMA’s general practice committee (GPC), which represent all UK GPs, voted for an emergency motion urging Hester to stand down from the company with immediate effect.
On Monday, The Guardian reported that Hester made comments during a 2019 meeting stating that watching Abbott on television incited feelings of hatred towards all black women and that she should be harmed. Hester has since apologized for her words, but denies that they were influenced by race or gender.
The GPC advised family doctors to take Hester’s remarks on Abbott into consideration before signing any additional contracts with TPP.
The statement declared: “This assembly is appalled by the reported disturbing, blatantly discriminatory, and sexist statements made by Frank Hester, head of The Phoenix Partnership (TPP), towards Ms. Diane Abbott MP.”
The GPC highlighted that Hester’s remarks went against the fit and proper person test framework implemented by NHS England following the 2019 Kark review’s suggestions.
This statement urges health boards in the UK to carefully monitor their processes when hiring external stakeholders, especially if their views and values do not align with those of the NHS professionals.
Following the meeting, Dr. Alan Stout and Dr. Andrew Buist, co-chairs of GPC, expressed their disapproval by stating: “This urgent proposal highlights the outrage among GPs. The NHS has no tolerance for racism or sexism, and the committee recommends that he step down from his position immediately.”
Since 2016, the NHS and other government bodies have awarded TPP with contracts worth over £400m.
According to recent information, Hester has contributed a total of £15m to the Conservative party, making him their biggest contributor. There are calls for Rishi Sunak to give back the funds given the revelation of Hester’s comment.
When the announcement was made of the £5m donation this month, Hester denied any intentions of using the money to gain more government contracts. He stated that the majority of contracts came from hospitals and GPs, who have the authority to choose their preferred software, rather than from Rishi Sunak.
The motion proposed by the General Practice Committee of the Doctors’ Association UK was supported by Dr. Steve Taylor, who serves as their spokesperson.
According to his statement, the UK GP committee of the Doctors’ Association has expressed serious apprehensions regarding remarks attributed to Frank Hester, who is the owner of TPP and one of the main providers of IT systems for GPs.
“The group of general practitioners is made up of a variety of individuals, and these remarks are extremely distressing. We concur with other organizations of general practitioners that it raises concerns about the leadership of TPP.”
TPP has been reached out to for a statement.
Source: theguardian.com
