End of road for legal challenge over new form of NHS contract as Supreme Court refuses permission to appeal

Campaign group 999 Call for the NHS has hit out at the Supreme Court’s refusal of permission to appeal in its challenge over a new form of NHS contract, describing the decision as “completely illogical”.

The group brought legal proceedings over what was originally known as the Accountable Care Organisation contract but has since been rebranded by NHS England as the Integrated Care Provider contract.

However, it lost in both the High Court and in the Court of Appeal.

Jenny Shepherd, 999 Call for the NHS secretary, said: “We’re very disappointed that the Supreme Court has refused us permission to appeal. Thousands of people backed this judicial review in order to protect comprehensive universal health care in the NHS.

“It costs a specific amount to provide each treatment to each patient. We are worried that the Integrated Contract Provider contract ignores this by paying a fixed annual amount for a whole range of services for an area’s population.  
 
“This creates a real risk that there wouldn’t be enough money to cover the costs of providing high quality treatments to all patients who have a clinical need for them.”

999 Call for the NHS said it was “surprised and disappointed” that the Supreme Court judges ruled that their application did not raise an arguable point of law.

Steven Carne, co-chair of 999 Call for the NHS, said: “We were given permission to go to the Court of Appeal because Lady Justice Arden had identified that the High Court ruling in April 2018 had not properly considered a key question of statutory construction.

“This was whether - as NHS England claimed -  there is no need for visible prices fixed in advance for each individual treatment episode.

“But the Court of Appeal ruling on this question was the same as the High Court ruling. So the High Court hadn’t properly considered it, and the Court of Appeal didn’t either.

“We are totally at a loss to understand why the Supreme Court (where Lady Justice Arden now sits) has decided that there is now no clear arguable point of law that needs deciding. It seems completely irrational.”

The campaign group’s legal team was Rowan Smith and Anna Dews from the public law team at the law firm Leigh Day, and David Lock QC and Leon Glenister from Landmark Chambers.