Surprise Surprise! The cat’s out of the bag (if it was ever in there in the first place).The Coalition’s mask has slipped further again regarding the future of the National Health Service if they get their way.
As reported in the Sunday Press a senior adviser to David Cameron has said that the Health Service could be improved by charging patients and that it (NHS) will be transformed into a ‘state insurance provider, not a state deliverer’ of care.
Mark Britnell (part of the Prime Minister’s ‘kitchen cabinet’)Â told a conference of executives from the private sector that future reforms would show ‘Â no mercy’ to the NHS and offer a ‘big opportunity’ to the for-profit sector.
As this conference took place in New York it is all the more clear that the privatisation of health is the strategy of this government, no matter how many crocodile tears they shed in support of public healthcare.Â
Britnell was a former director of commissioning for the NHS but is now Global Head of Healthcare at the accountancy giant KPMG who are a global network of firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory Services.
The combined revenues of firms belonging to this network was $20.63 billion in September 2010. Industries covered by KPMG include Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals.
I wonder what firms, from what network, will bid for any NHS Services? Answers on a postcard……..
Mark Britnell also writes in the current Health Service Journal along similar lines as his speech to the New York conference.
He calls for a more sophisticated discussion regarding public v private, but he populates his side of the debate with financial and private sector gobbledygook that he knows most people and families worried about their health will find confusing.
Boiled down though I think his argument is: ‘because healthcare is free – people use it. If this carries on, how will the private sector (who he represents) make their billions on the back of the sick’.
He seems to hide behind economic arguments while throwing ideological hand grenades at those on the other side of the fence.
Let’s have a real debate about why the wealth created by working people throughout their lives, that instead of being used to fund homes, healthcare, pensions, education and a safe, peaceful country, is syphoned off to fill the deep pockets of those who patronise and exploit. No one will be confused about this debate.
The Coalition’s statements on the NHS are lies. The NHS is not ringfenced and frontline posts are not safe. UNISON will carry on campaigning with other trade unions, patient groups, service users, community groups and other civil society organisations to expose and defeat these lies.
Full scale privatisation within the wider Health Service will lead to full scale privatisation within the Ambulance Service. The debate about public v private is important.
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Myself and a number of Branch Officers attended a UNISON National Ambulance Seminar near Grantham over the weekend. Delegates from every Regional Ambulance Branch were also present.
The Seminar had workshops on pensions, fitness to practice and sickness absence.
As well as these workshops there were keynote speakers on our campaign against the NHS reforms as set out in the Health & Social Care Bill, protecting the PTS and understanding the laws on industrial action.
The latter issue is climbing the agenda within the union, particularly in regard to changes to our pensions, and we have to be absolutely clear what can be done and what can’t.
The Seminar finished off with a whole host of idea exchanges regarding policies in each Service which was very very useful.
And of course you cannot have a union Seminar without discussing recruitment and the need to be stronger, the need to stand together and the need to get ourselves ready for the fight ahead.
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I don’t know about you, but I am depressing myself writing about all the threats to our NHS and Ambulance Service. This was not what the blog was supposed to be all about. Well, not all the time anyway.
That said, myself and the Union ignore this at our peril. The easiest thing is to close our eyes and hope it goes away. It will not.Writing about it keeps it in the centre of our minds, keeps it in the spotlight for all members in the union and, just as important, lets our enemies see that we know and understand what is going on.
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UNISON had a good recruitment event this week in the foyer at Waterloo Headquarters. We shared the space with Managers in Partnership (MiP). More events are planned throughout the year and throughout the Service.
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Information of all issues can be found elsewhere on our website.
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If you are reading this, work for the London Ambulance Service or are eligible to join, and are not yet a member of UNISON Join Today!
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Eric Roberts
Branch Secretary
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