Feb 28 2007
UNISON's call for a time-out in the increased use of markets in the NHS has helped raise public awareness of the issue in the run up to this weekend’s NHS Together day of action.
A UNISON-commissioned report In the interests of patients made sure the issue attracted coverage in The Times, Financial Times, The Guardian and a range of broadcast media.
It analyses the impact of market reforms on the National Health Service and calls for a “time out” on more market incursions into public health.
After detailed research and analysis of the new NHS market, the report concludes it has led to;
- Higher costs
- Lower efficiency
- Financial instability
- Service cuts
- Patient care quality reduced
- Intensified health inequalities
- A lack of public accountability
General secretary Dave Prentis said; “We are calling for time-out on the ever increasing use of the private sector in our NHS.
"The government is allowing multinationals to bleed the NHS dry, which is bad news for patients and taxpayers. “£5bn is going into 'private-sector treatment eentres' that are at the root of the problems.
"We have the obscene situation of NHS scanners and equipment lying idle while trusts struggle to survive under the ‘payment by results system’, never knowing what their income will be.
"No one can manage finances effectively if they don’t know how much money is coming in, so how can the government expect hospital managers to balance the books? “Hospitals must now compete against each other and have been told by government to spend some of their precious budget on advertising for patients.
"Before the market gets a stranglehold on the NHS, we want a halt to privatisation and an independent review into the impact of the market on the NHS."
http://www.unison.org.uk