NHS ‘privatisation’ white paper has no democratic mandate, says
Unite
4 October 2010
The NHS white paper, which heralds the rapid privatisation of
the health service, has no democratic mandate from the public,
Unite, the largest union in the country, said today (Monday 4
October).
Unite was responding to the consultation on the proposals
outlined in ‘Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS’ as the
union launches a campaign to oppose the white paper and the cuts
being inflicted on the health service among its 100,000 health
sector members.
Unite national officer for health, Karen Reay, said: ”If you
join up the dots in the white paper, the menu on offer is
unpalatable – rapid privatisation, lack of proper public
consultation, a reduction in services as the contract culture
starts to bite, and poorer employment conditions for hard-working
NHS staff.”
In its submission, Unite said that the proposals represent ‘a
shift in gear to the privatisation so far seen in the NHS.’
‘The impact of these proposals will be far reaching – they are
being introduced and implemented without any democratic mandate
from a public that has not been properly and genuinely consulted
with.’
Unite pinpoints the emphasis on gearing future services to
financial and business contractual relationships and results,
rather than meeting health needs. This will lead to increasing
health inequalities and opens the door to priority being given to
those willing to pay a fee or charge.
The creation of the ‘NHS Commissioning Board’ is also a
‘contracting out’ of the responsibility of the NHS by the
government. It is an attempt by ministers to be at ‘arms length’
when the quality and range of health services decreases because of
the implementation of the government’s proposals.
The white paper contains the proposal to make £20 billion
‘efficiency savings’ by 2014, but Unite argues that these
‘efficiency savings’ are just cutbacks in services.
The announcement of the government’s implementation of a pay cut
for NHS and other public sector workers rode roughshod over the
collective bargaining arrangements in the NHS and other parts of
the public sector.
This will lead to high staff turnover, and recruitment and
retention problems as in the early 1990s, and higher stress and
workloads for remaining staff. These factors will lead to lower
quality of services, and through lower staff numbers, fewer health
services in total.
Unite believes the proposals outlined in the white paper will
undermine the concept of a universal service, free at the point of
delivery to all those in need. And all that will be left will be a
marketing logo, as services will be provided by a myriad of
competing, businesses trying to maximise their profits.
This will be brought about in three main ways:
- Implementation of GP commissioning: Consortiums will put all
local health services out to tender, and will then be able to award
the contract to “any willing provider”. This means any private
company can apply to provide services.
- Bringing about the disintegration of the remaining public
sector, NHS organisations: The extension of the ‘right to request’
to opt out of the NHS proper will mean a deepening drive to break
apart NHS organisations and transfer them section by section to the
private sector. This is not altered by the softer sounding moniker,
‘social enterprise’.
- Carrying out the role of ‘commissioner’: The bringing together
of ‘consortiums’ of many and varied GP practices; the time
pressures on individual GPs; and the complexity of the health
business market being set up means that the practical solution for
many of these consortiums will lie in contracting out the
commissioning function itself to private, management
consultancy.
The Unite 4 our NHS campaign to fight the white paper and cuts
kicked off with an email calling for health sector members to put
their names on a map highlighting support for the NHS and to
provide the union with information on the real impact of the £20
million ‘efficiency savings’.
ENDS
Unite's response to the
government's NHS 'Equity and Excellence' white paper
For further information, please ring: Karen Reay, national
officer, health on 07798 531 004 or Liane Groves, Unite
communications officer on 07793 661 657
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