You might have heard of the strange case of Creswell, in north-east Derbyshire. Last year, the general practice there went out to tender, a government initiative designed to increase competition among potential healthcare providers. The contract for running Creswell's general practice was won by the multinational "diversified health and wellbeing company" UnitedHealth Europe.

However, a local woman named Pam Smith challenged this decision and, after initially losing her case at the High Court, successfully applied to the Appeal Court, arguing that the community had not been adequately consulted in the tender process.