Bio
Hilary Drenth helps clients to complete robust and commercial transactions in the unique NHS environment. Hilary specialises in commercial healthcare work, and acts principally for NHS clients, both primary care commissioners and acute service providers. She enables clients to conduct a transaction confident in their understanding of the commercial and regulatory position in order to secure outcomes that are best for patients and tax payers.
The complex transactions that Hilary works on are often completely new ground for clients and commercially and politically "high profile", so she aims to support them through the process, helping them to articulate the issues and assess the implications for the transaction. Her experience of the NHS means that she is well placed to advise on how to approach the all-important process of understanding the service and performance requirements, and the information needed to define them, and thereby improve quality and efficiency. Hilary's experience across a range of projects and transactions means that she understands how her clients operate in a wider health and social care environment, and can work closely with them to understand their short-term drivers and long-term aims for transformational change.
Hilary's background as a technical author, combined with her extensive experience drafting documentation and key legal transaction agreements, also results in a unique ability to translate complex ideas into an easily digestible form.
Core to Hilary's work is drafting documentation - both contracts and policies. In the transaction world, a lawyer's role is just as much communication as it is the law and to be able to put complex information in an accurate but really absorbable form is an intellectual challenge and quite rewarding. Hilary enjoys working closely with her clients, getting to grips with their challenges, understanding their perspective and getting to know them as people. NHS transactions are complicated and the individuals involved can sometimes feel overwhelmed by the process. It's really helpful for them to feel like they have someone who knows the mechanisms that they can pick up the phone to and use as a sounding board, even if it's just to ask 'Can we do this?' or 'Should we do this?'
Hilary gets a real buzz seeing a transaction to a successful close. The most complicated NHS transactions can take years to complete. We get a real insight into what our clients want for the populations they serve and the difficulties surrounding sustainable long-term solutions. Getting them to the finishing line and knowing that we've done the best job possible to get them the outcome they are looking for in terms of being able to improve performance is extremely important.
Highlights
Working with Cambridge and Peterborough CCG on their county-wide procurement of community services for adults and children, resulting in an £800 million contract award to UnitingCare Partnership, the largest contract in NHS history. It involved some very novel approaches for the NHS and was very high profile. It was a true opportunity for innovation and had a sophisticated and exciting competition process that was great to watch.
Being involved in the establishment of the CCGs was a great highlight, particularly seeing their plans for the future and absolute focus on improving things for their patients.
Hilary enjoyed being involved with the improvement of access to primary care program, which really focused on achieving high standard and introducing modern facilities to communities that have never had anything like it before. It set an important standard within the NHS that will make a tangible to a lot of people
Clients
NHS commissioners and providers, private companies providing services to the health sector.