Labour grandee Alan Milburn has faced calls to resign from his role advising private equity predators who have bought the biggest chain of NHS dentists.
The former health secretary, a key aide to Wes Streeting, is acting for the profit hungry capitalists at a time when patients are forced to pay huge costs to fix their teeth and many find it difficult or impossible to find an NHS dentist.
Mr Milburn, 67, was appointed non-executive director to the board of the Department for Health and Social Care in November.
But while lending a hand to the current health secretary, Mr Milburn has also been a long-standing adviser to Bridgepoint Capital which swooped to buy MyDentist in an £800m deal last month.
The firm, previously owned by Palamon Capital, is the UK’s biggest private dental chain with a 5pc market share, and the largest private company providing NHS work.
The DHSC is currently working on a root and branch reform of crisis-hit NHS dentistry, which has a chronic shortage of practitioners, sending adult usage to a record low.
Only 40 pc of adults have seen an NHS dentist in two years, according to most recent figures.
Today, Mr Milburn, health secretary from 1999 to 2003 at the height of Tony Blair’s premiership, faced concern from campaigners who believe the two roles for UK-listed investment company Bridgepoint and DHSC were incompatible and urged to ‘step aside from one role or the other’.
Alan Milburn, non-executive director at the Department of Health and Social Care is facing pressure over his advisory role with Bridgepoint Capital, which has snapped upMyDentist
It comes as an investigation by the Mail on Sunday yesterday revealed the extent to which private equity sharks are tightening their grip on Britain’s dental sector – with 12pc of clinics now owned by big chains.
As availability of health service dentistry dries up, more and more patients are forced to go private, where fees for simple procedures can be up to 3.5 times that of the NHS.
Dennis Reed, of pensioners’ campaign group Silver Voices, called Mr Milburn’s dual roles ‘a shocking overlap of responsibility.
He said: ‘I wouldn’t hold out too much hope that Alan Milburn is going to be rooting for NHS dentistry. He should step aside from one role or the other.’
‘I think the public are sick and tired of these sorts of conflicts of interest between politicians’ public roles and their private interests.’
Stuart Andrew MP, Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary, said: ‘It’s hard to see how this doesn’t amount to a clear conflict of interest. Alan Milburn is advising Labour on NHS policy while being paid by the private equity firm that just bought Britain’s largest provider of NHS dentistry.
‘Patients need confidence that NHS decisions are being made in the public interest, but this appears to be just more cronyism, sleaze and scandal at the heart of the Labour government.’
Bridgepoint have not revealed how much they pay Mr Milburn but his role with the company caused controversy at the time of his appointment by DHSC because the private equity firm previously ran Care UK, a large chain of over 160 nursing homes.
Current usage of NHS dentistry has fallen to the lowest level since the health service began
He receives £15,000 per annum for the directorship at DHSC and works two to three days a month.
Mr Milburn has reportedly been advising Mr Streeting since Labour was in opposition.
Mr Milburn is paid for his private consultancy work via AM Strategy Limited, a company listing the politician, his partner and two sons as the only directors.
The family withdrew dividends of more than £8m from the firm between 2016 and 2023, according to accounts filed with Companies House.
As well as working for Bridgepoint, the former Darlington MP has been a longstanding advisor to PwC’s health practice, confectionary giant Mars and US-based healthcare firm Centene Corporation.
While an MP, he received £25,000 a year to sit on the board of Lloyds Pharmacy and was paid £20,000 a year as an advisor to soft drinks firm PepsiCo.
Alan Milburn has been a longstanding advisor to private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital
Dennis Reed, of Silver Voices, says Mr Milburn should ‘step aside from one role or the other’
At Milburn’s detached four-bedroom home in Northumberland, his partner Ruth Briel declined to comment. Closing the door, she said: ‘It’s got absolutely nothing to do with me.’
Bridgepoint said Milburn ‘advises on leadership and development topics’ but is ‘not involved in deals’.
The Department of Health and Social Care said: ‘Mr Milburn has declared his interests in any discussions or activity that relate to products or services that are or may be provided by companies owned by Bridgepoint Capital Ltd, making the nature of any potential conflict transparent’.
A source added Mr Milburn ‘recuses himself from any discussions or activity in the department directly related to these companies’, adding that he ‘had no involvement in Bridgepoint’s acquisition of this business and has recused himself from all discussions in the (DHSC) relating to dentistry’.
