Here are the health-related links that have caught our eyes between June 20th and July 11th:

• McKinsey’s unhealthy profits | Red Pepper– It has certainly offered to share information gained from its work on privatisation for the Department of Health with private health companies seeking business from the department, as revealed in emails obtained by Spinwatch under the Freedom of Information Act.Each of the firm’s 400 senior partners is estimated to make between £3 million and £6 million a year, and ‘junior directors’ over £1 million. Partners and other McKinsey staff regularly take senior jobs inside government. Dr David Bennett, a former senior partner, became chief of policy and strategy for Tony Blair from 2005 to 2007, and is now chairman and acting chief executive of Monitor, which will regulate the new healthcare market and play a crucial role in offering NHS business to private companies.Dr Penny Dash was the Department of Health’s head of strategy from 2000 and a key author of the NHS Plan that set in train New Labour’s privatisation agenda. She subsequently became a McKinsey partner and played the lead

• BBC News – Why South London Healthcare struggled– On the patient side of things, it is not so much a case of too few but rather the wrong mix. The trust serves a population of over 1m and has high demand for emergency services. Indeed, the Queen Elizabeth in Woolwich is one of the busiest in the capital. And emergency patients are some of the most financially expensive to care for.
• Hospitals need a good flow of people coming through the doors needing non-emergency operations, such as knee and hip replacements, and a regular demand for outpatient appointments to keep their balance sheets healthy. South London Healthcare does not have this
• At least 30 health trusts in a critical condition – Home News – UK – The Independent– Yesterday the Department of Health said it considered 21 hospitals to be “clinically and financially unsustainable” and in need of radical restructuring.However, the list did not include another five foundation hospitals – run independently of the Department of Health – which are also considered to be failing financially. A further five foundation hospitals also have severe financial problems.On Monday, Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, announced plans to put three London hospitals into a form of financial administration after they ran up debts of £150m over the past three years.
• DH pay framework for very senior managers in Arms-length bodies (Special Health Authorities and Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies) : Department of Health – Publications –