| Chai Patel |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT CHAI PATEL | |
| 1954 births | |
| patel, chai | |
| living people | |
| commanders of the order of the british empire | |
| alumni of the university of southampton | |
| british hindus | |
| gujarati people | |
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Dr Chaitanya Patel CBE FRCP (born September 14 , 1954 ) is a British doctor and businessman who is the Chief Executive of the Priory Healthcare group. Born in Uganda to Indian parents, he obtained medical qualifications at Southampton University in 1979 and formerly worked in the NHS . CAREER IN BUSINESS Chief Executive of the Priory Group, the UK’s largest independent specialist mental health and education services group. In 1988 he founded Court Cavendish, which was rapidly recognised as a high quality continuing care company. In 1996 he merged it with Takare to create Care First, the UK’s largest continuing care company. He remained as Chief Executive until it was taken over by BUPA in 1997 . In 1999 he acquired and became Chief Executive of Westminster Health Care plc, the largest publicly quoted healthcare services group in the UK, which acquired Priory Hospitals in 2000 . After a management buyout of the Care Home division in 2002 , Dr Patel continued as Chief Executive of Priory Healthcare. POLICY WORK AND HONOURS For many years he has been involved in healthcare policy issues, working on numerous government task forces and action groups. He has received an Honorary Doctorate from the Open University . He is a keen supporter of Labour's Private Finance Initiative 1 and is secretary to the Institute For Public Policy Research , a Labour Party Think Tank . In 1999 he was awarded a CBE for his services to the development of social care policies. CONTROVERSY Westminster Health Dr Patel resigned as a trustee of Help The Aged in 2002 "to save it embarrassment" after a damning report into a nursing home owned by Westminster Health, which he headed.2 Lynde House In 2004, Dr Patel was charged with serious professional misconduct and faced being "struck off" over complaints about poor care at Lynde House, one of his former care homes for the elderly3. In , 30 June 2005 . Cash for Peerages Dr Patel is a donor to the British Labour Party , having gifted the party £100,000. In , 12 March 2006 . Dr Patel said he made the loan following a request, but never expected anything in return. The Labour Party defended the loan, asserting that no rules had been broken. Dr Patel's name was submitted by Downing Street for a peerage two months after the loan. The BBC quotes him as saying " have been angered by what see as the leaking of candidacy by the commission" and he has called for greater transparency. He also said he would not have loaned the party the money if he had imagined that the financial support would create such criticism[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4785050.stm "Priory boss 'anger' over peerage" , , 8 March 2006 . On 15 March 2006 it was revealed that Jack Dromey , the Treasurer of the Labour Party, had been unaware of the loans and called for an independent enquiry (see '' Cash For Peerages ''). On March 29 Chai Patel withdrew his name from the list of nominees for a peerage. He said that at no time did he have any expectation of a reward nor had he been offered anything in return, yet on a BBC 'Today' programme he expressed the view that he wanted to serve in the upper house (The Lords) as he felt that his life experience ensured that he could make a valuable contribution there.4. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS |
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