Only Labour Can Save NHS
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/nov/10/our-nhs-is-at-risk-from-us-trade-deal
This is an important letter to the Guardian from people who care about the future of the NHS and warn about the troubles ahead if Johnson signs a trade deal with Trump after Brexit.
As the letter points out, “Our NHS is already for sale - 18% of NHS funding now goes to private providers.”
Trump has made contradictory noises about whether the NHS would be on the table in the event of a trade deal. It doesn’t matter. Both Johnson and Trump are liars, and a deal with the US must be ratified by Congress. US Congress is dominated by big business lobbying, and big business usually gets what it wants. It wants to gobble up the NHS.
The letter writers explain that privatisation could be locked in unless we get, “Legislation that ends the privatisation of healthcare.” This is a clear call to vote Labour and campaign for Labour if you too care about the NHS.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock recently declared, “There is no privatisation on my watch.” We’re surprised his pants are not on fire. This year alone 21 health contracts worth £127 million have been awarded to private companies.
Margaret Thatcher proclaimed, “The National Health Service is safe with us.” The facts since 2010 show the opposite. A survey by The Health Foundation earlier this year found:
100,000 staff vacancies were reported by NHS trusts.
The number of full time equivalent GPs has fallen by 1.6%, despite Government pledges for 5,000 extra GPs by 2020.
There are more than 41,000 registered nursing posts reported vacant in the NHS in England – more than 1 in 10.
Staff shortages inevitably mean cancellation of operations and longer waiting lists. Cancellation of operations have been up by one third over the last two years alone. Freedom of Information searches show that 80,000 operations were cancelled at the last minute in 2018.
Another Tory lie is that ‘the NHS is not for sale’. The alarm has been raised now on account of a proposed trade deal to be signed with the US in the event of Brexit. A future Tory government would be desperate to sign up to anything, and not in a strong position to negotiate terms. Besides the Tory right wingers want Brexit as an excuse for a bonfire of controls over employment conditions, environmental regulations and consumer protection - including protecting the NHS. Alongside importing chlorinated chicken we’ll be putting up with the big US healthcare and insurance companies, salivating at the profits they can make at the cost of us and our health system.
Don’t forget the US capitalist healthcare system is rubbish. The US spent 17.2% of its GDP on healthcare in 2016, compared with 9.7% in the UK, and 30 million Americans have no health cover at all.
The NHS is already vulnerable and under attack. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 (which was backed by the LibDems as well as the Tories) has placed it on the dissecting table. Competitive tendering means that tax-dodging billionaires like Richard Branson can sue the NHS if they don’t get awarded a contract. Virgin Care sued the NHS in Surrey for not getting the children’s health job. The 2012 Act lets them suck our health service dry.
Then there’s big pharma. Labour claims that NHS could be paying £500 million a week more for drugs, or £27bn a year, in the event of a US trade deal. How come? The NHS has a powerful negotiating position with UK drug companies as it is virtually the only buyer of a whole slew of medicines. So it can beat the prices down. This is called monopsony power. Drugs are more expensive in the US, which is a pharmaceutical superpower. They could use their bully power to up the price of drugs here after the NHS is completely privatised, and that £27bn shows what the difference could be.
A Tory victory would be a threat to our NHS. Don’t let it happen!
