AN INDEPENDENT inquiry should be held into the privatisation of part of the NHS in Liverpool, MPs have ruled.

Claims some GPs in Liverpool had a financial stake in companies that bid for dermatology contracts last year must be investigat-ed, said the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Skin (APPGS).

The possible conflict of interest was highlighted by the Daily Post last year at the time the contract was first put out to tender.

The MPs’ group also warned that the impact of privatising non-surgical dermatology services, like eczema, acne, and allergies, threatens specialist care because of the re-direction of budgets. Patients with more severe conditions therefore potentially receive inferior and less specialist care, the group found.

Last night, Dr Alex Scott-Samuel, senior public health lecturer at the University of Liverpool, said it was “inappropriate for the NHS to be working in this way”.

“Clearly an independent inquiry is needed,” he added, stressing he was speaking only as a national steering group member of doctors campaign group Keep Our NHS Public.

Last night, Liverpool Primary Care Trust (PCT), which pays for local health services and oversees the contracting out of work, defended its practices.

It admitted that it was review-ing its competition policy in line with new Department of Health guidance, but said the new service had been popular with patients.

In 2006, Liverpool was divided into four consortiums of GPs that can request services be commissioned on their behalf with the aid of reducing waiting times and increasing patient choice.

Last year, the South Central Liverpool Consortium, which covers a population of 96,000 people, asked Liverpool PCT for permission to contract out non-surgical dermatology services.

In April, 2007, Liverpool PCT admitted that a GP from the city centre Brownlow Group Practice, which it partners with Assura Liverpool Local Partnership, help-ed come up with the design for how the new dermatology service should be run. The Trust denied there was any conflict of interest, despite the fact Assura LLP had bid to run the new service.

Later that month, Assura LLP, based in the Rope Walks area, was awarded the contract which the PCT said had been running as a pilot project, and has been extend-ed until the end of December.

Patients covered by the South Central Liverpool Consortium needing treatment for conditions like eczema, acne, and allergies can now choose Assura or the Royal and Broadgreen. Those living in other areas are still sent to the Royal and Broadgreen.

The MPs’ group was asked by the Skin Care Campaign to launch an investigation into the commissioning of skin care services fol-lowing this controversial dermatology deal. A report of the investigation concluded that the group had “received differing versions of the events in the case outlined .

“However, the balance of evidence suggests there may be some cause for concern, warranting further investigation. We would like to see an independent review on the process leading up to the awarding of the contract in Liver-pool in 2007 to establish whether, indeed, the rules were followed.”

It suggested that the Healthcare Commission carry out the investigation.

The group also criticised the “unreasonably short” two weeks that South Central Liverpool Consortium had advertised for bids.