Unite calls for ballot on Tower Hamlets’ plans to hive off NHS
services to a social enterprise
18th February 2010
Unite, the largest union in the country, is calling for a ballot
of staff at NHS Tower Hamlets in east London over proposals to hive
off NHS services into a social enterprise.
Unite, along with the other staff side unions, will be asking
managers at the trust, which covers one of the most deprived areas
in the country, to hold a ballot of staff, as to whether they are
in favour of transferring to a social enterprise.
Unite described the social enterprise move as ‘semi-privatising
the most deprived’.
Unite’s call comes after the Department of Health’s announcement
that the NHS should be ‘the preferred provider’ of choice. This
means that outside providers can only be asked to tender if a trust
is deemed to be failing and has not taken remedial measures.
Managers are being asked to reconsider their plans for a social
enterprise, which are commercial organisations, one step removed
from the NHS proper, which can win – and lose – contracts to
provide services to the NHS for a limited period of time.
Unite said that there had been an agreement with the London
Strategic Health Authority that the trust would remain as a direct
provider for the next two years and now government was forcing the
trust into another option with a tight timescale for a decision to
be made.
Unite national officer for health, Karen Reay, said: ”Tower
Hamlets is one of the most deprived areas of the UK. If ever there
were a case of joined-up services under the NHS, Tower Hamlets is
it. What the managers and their highly paid management consultants
are proposing is semi-privatising the most deprived – and that is
unacceptable.
”It is clear that social enterprises are a leap in the dark in
terms of provision of services and the employment conditions and
pensions of NHS staff that could be severely eroded.
”Also, the viability of the financial model proposed could be
jeopardised, if VAT is charged on its services not directly related
to health care, such as marketing and legal fees, and treatments
that may not be regarded as essential.”
If the social enterprise loses its contracts to, for example, a
North American private healthcare company in five years time, jobs
could be lost and services to the public could become fragmented.
The ethos of a NHS providing a unified, joined-up service for
patients could disappear.
ENDS
Notes to news editors:
- Unite has welcomed the government’s statement, made last
autumn, that the NHS is ‘the preferred provider’ of choice when it
comes to delivering services, rather than private sector
organisations.
- In his letter to the chief executives of the strategic health
authorities and primary care trusts, NHS chief executive, David
Nicholson said: “The NHS as the preferred provider is about getting
the best care for patients and looking after the NHS staff who care
for them. Our aim is to ensure that NHS staff are treated fairly
and engaged in decisions.”
The Patchwork Privatisation of Our Health Service – a special
report can be downloaded from www.unitetheunion.org/health
and then clicking on Health B4 Profit campaign.
For further information, please ring: Karen Reay, national
officer, health 07798 531 004 or Shaun Noble, communications
officer (health sector), 020 7420 8951 or 07768 693 940
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