The NHS is the biggest single market for health products in the world. There is a 360 degree attack underway against the NHS's public status - and it is ratcheting up. US firms that sell drugs and other aspects of health care like HCA International, and general companies with a medical section and an associated general investment arm like GHG, are 'front and centre' in the flock of vultures now circling the NHS - or already established within it. We know all this.
Less easy to know is who is on what side when it comes to defending the public Health Service. For instance while we know that Vince Cable is in charge of the big new plan between the EU and the US to force private competition into all state commissioning, and we also know that many Tory MPs have financial interests in the private health companies; on the other hand Andy Burnham, Labour's shadow minister for Health seems to be facing both ways. And he is not alone.
In Andy's case he told us at Labour's recent conference that Labour would
'Reinstate the NHS as our preferred provider. The public NHS; protected with Labour. Not for sale. Not now; not ever.' Andy got a cheer. He had forgotten that with health deficits all over the shop due to chronic underfunding and constant reorganisation, it is almost impossible for NHS bodies to bid for commissions. That's what happened to him in 2010 when as Health Minister he outsourced Hitchingbrooke hospital. He was quite right about the disastrous consequences though. The Care Quality Commission found a poor quality of care and Andy's junior now shadow minister, Jamie Reed, said in last week's Health Service Journal;
'This is exactly what we warned would always happen. David Cameron should learn this lesson ; privatising hospitals does not work . Patients pay the price.' (See Private Eye 1376.) Did Jamie send a memo to Andy too? Is Andy now warned?
This piece of crap would be laughable if it wasn't so depressing.
What is less laughable are the results of Gordon Brown's PFI experiments with the NHS. Labour leader Miliband announced at the conference an extra annual £2.5 billion for the NHS if Labour won the General Election. This is good as it will cover the £1.9 billion annual PFI bill for the NHS deals signed up by Labour. Labour committed the NHS to a total PFI bill of £63 billion stretching forward from April 2015.
More worrying still is the secret list. There is a quiet discussion going on in some major trade unions about the information recently uncovered by union researchers. At the moment union members in the know are being told that it cannot be used. Not only can the information not be brought into the light, it is also blunting the attack on the Tories over health. The researchers have discovered a long list of Labour MPs with connections to private health firms. This means some union leaders are shy about raising the equivalent Tory involvement. If their union research can dig up this new brand of Labour links then so can the Tory investigators. The Tories could then accuse Labour of being the same greedy unprincipled bastards as they are with an interest in a private NHS. And then where would we be?
Just as a small matter of information, Labour's list includes 'men of the people' like Blunkett and Prescott.
Can Labour really defend the NHS? What do you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment