The hospital dropped from a three-star rating to no stars

A West Midlands hospital is to become the first in the UK to be run by a private company.

The final two bidders for the contract to manage Good Hope Hospital, in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, are both private companies.

Management of the hospital was put out to franchise after it dropped from a three-star rating to no stars at all.

Since then more than �20m of public investment has been pledged, but the final two bidders to provide a new chief executive for the hospital are from private companies.

Worrying move

One of the bidders, Secta, has a �9m stake in a new hospital in Coventry.

The other is Canadian company Interhealth, which runs a new hospital in Abu Dhabi.

Ian McIvett, from Unison, said the move was worrying.

"We're not talking about a little bit of stuff being contracted out.

"We're talking about the private sector running a major hospital in Britain's second city.

"That is an extremely worrying move."

A spokeswoman from Good Hope Hospital said: "We are working with health partners and we believe this will benefit the hospital."