Welsh firm clinches three-year health deal

WELSH firm Morgan Bruce has won a contract to provide legal services to a new London Borough Health Trust.

Morgan Bruce, which has offices in Cardiff, London and Swansea, has been awarded a three-year contract by Newham Community Health Services NHS Trust, which provides health and social care for more than 224,000 residents in east London.

The trust invited 10 firms to apply for the contract. Eight firms returned the application form, five of which were called for interview.

The firm, which employs 30 solicitors in the health department, already represents every health authority in Wales and about 70 per cent of Welsh NHS trusts.

Phil Jardine, head of Morgan Bruce's Health Group, said: "We don't yet know how much work the contract will generate because the trust was only established last year.

"At the moment the contract is only a small percentage of our workload."

The legal work is expected to include employment advice, personal injury and medical negligence claims, public and employee liability claims, the sale and purchase of property, and work with housing associations and re-providing mental health services.

Anna Denby, corporate project manager at Newham, said: "We chose Morgan Bruce because it had the widest range of experience in the community health field. The other firms only had experience in medical negligence. Being a provincial firm they also provided best value for money."