Our NHS

The NHS. free at the point of access, is central to our beliefs and way of life in Britain: It is one of the most cost effective health services in the world, not just in Europe. The people who tell you otherwise are not being honest.

Change is a way of life for all of us but we do not need private companies syphoning off our tax payments in order to pay shareholders. The whole point of the NHS is to deliver the best service we can, with the available funds from taxation. My NHS career experience has shown me that the NHS can work well with 3rd sector groups and charities because they share similar ethics; auctioning off health services to multi national companies is opening the door to the unbearable burden of shareholder dividends and corporate tax avoidance. The purpose of all private companies is to make a profit for shareholders/owners not to benefit the tax payer.

Competition between health providers is bad for your health. When you access care and treatment you should expect that the nurses and doctors treat you as a whole person not just an ‘illness’ or ‘injury.’ Unfortunately the commercial interests of private Companies means they have little inclination to share health information with other rival health services resulting in a ‘silo’ system. You also have the issue of your private health information being the property of a commercial company.

Do not be persuaded by the temptation of ‘private investment’ in public services: It is an illusion - think about the water companies which were privatised on the pretence of getting investment for new sewers and pipes - now Thames Water tell us that they have to raise prices to repair the Victorian sewers - a job they they promised to do 20 years ago!

While the Condems speed towards complete privatisation of the NHS, nurses are leaving the profession in droves as their professional ethics and ideals are undermined by supermarket style management.

Our NHS is better than that - but we will have to fight for it!