It's education time again folks, this time regarding the recent £780 million privatisation contracts for NHS care (that probably went under your radar over the last few days since the media is controlled by the Government). This is more important than Jeremy Clarkson punching a producer for not having his meal ready.
The Government has forced £20 billion of cuts on the health service during this parliament. Thousands of staff have been axed; NHS walk-in centres, A&Es and maternity units have been shut or downgraded; waiting times have increased to see a GP, have vital tests or undergo operations. You must have noticed the degradation of our health service in recent years?
Now as a solution the Government have agreed to outsource care from the NHS to 11 private firms who will be paid up to £780 million between them over the next four years. These private firms will be carrying out heart and joint operations, performing scans, x-rays and other diagnostic tests on patients, and sometimes from mobile units rather than hospital facilities.
The danger with privatisation is this; companies only exist to make profit - that is what they do, so the care provided by these 11 contractors will play second fiddle to the money they earn - and ironically 3 of the 11 companies contracted in lieu of NHS care already have heavy criticism for past indiscretions.
Care UK
Operate care homes for the elderly, two of which have had new admissions banned by the Care Quality Commission (NHS regulator) after falling below standard in 4 out of 5 categories. The ban on new admissions is still in force.
CQC Report
Circle
Provide imaging services such as scans and x-rays, plus work in operating theatres. Provide sub standard services and are heavily profit driven; the CEO Steve Melton pockets a £300k salary with £48k in pension and benefits. Just two months ago Circle withdrew from an existing NHS contract because it was no longer financially viable; later the same day it surfaced that the Care Quality Commission had rated the care and safety provided by Circle as inadequate and had recommended special measures be introduced if the contract remained in force.(If you check the Accountable person cited in the report, it is Circle CEO Hisham Abdel-Rahman).
CQC Report
Vanguard
Provide surgery and is currently facing legal action over eye operations they carried out last year which include routine cataract patients suffering burns and loss of iris pigment, and even some reporting metallic fragments being left inside their eyes. An 84 year old patient allegedly has gone blind from a poorly performed routine operation. The hospital terminated their contract after just four days. CEO Ian Gillespie is one of five company directors paid a combined £807,000 in 2013.
Guardian Article
So this is a testament to the choices of our Government; they slash funding for the NHS, force the population to endure a substandard service, and then sell privatised contracts to shady profit driven companies who will provide poor service, cut corners in pursuit of profit, make mistakes and malpractice, then walk away.
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The Government has forced £20 billion of cuts on the health service during this parliament. Thousands of staff have been axed; NHS walk-in centres, A&Es and maternity units have been shut or downgraded; waiting times have increased to see a GP, have vital tests or undergo operations. You must have noticed the degradation of our health service in recent years?
The NHS in England has been told to find £20bn of cuts by 2015. The government is portraying the cuts as efficiency savings that would be reinvested in patient care. But this is a myth; the treasury took back £1bn of the £1.4bn saved by the NHS in the past year.
Now as a solution the Government have agreed to outsource care from the NHS to 11 private firms who will be paid up to £780 million between them over the next four years. These private firms will be carrying out heart and joint operations, performing scans, x-rays and other diagnostic tests on patients, and sometimes from mobile units rather than hospital facilities.
The danger with privatisation is this; companies only exist to make profit - that is what they do, so the care provided by these 11 contractors will play second fiddle to the money they earn - and ironically 3 of the 11 companies contracted in lieu of NHS care already have heavy criticism for past indiscretions.
Care UK
Operate care homes for the elderly, two of which have had new admissions banned by the Care Quality Commission (NHS regulator) after falling below standard in 4 out of 5 categories. The ban on new admissions is still in force.
CQC Report
Circle
Provide imaging services such as scans and x-rays, plus work in operating theatres. Provide sub standard services and are heavily profit driven; the CEO Steve Melton pockets a £300k salary with £48k in pension and benefits. Just two months ago Circle withdrew from an existing NHS contract because it was no longer financially viable; later the same day it surfaced that the Care Quality Commission had rated the care and safety provided by Circle as inadequate and had recommended special measures be introduced if the contract remained in force.(If you check the Accountable person cited in the report, it is Circle CEO Hisham Abdel-Rahman).
CQC Report
Vanguard
Provide surgery and is currently facing legal action over eye operations they carried out last year which include routine cataract patients suffering burns and loss of iris pigment, and even some reporting metallic fragments being left inside their eyes. An 84 year old patient allegedly has gone blind from a poorly performed routine operation. The hospital terminated their contract after just four days. CEO Ian Gillespie is one of five company directors paid a combined £807,000 in 2013.
Guardian Article
So this is a testament to the choices of our Government; they slash funding for the NHS, force the population to endure a substandard service, and then sell privatised contracts to shady profit driven companies who will provide poor service, cut corners in pursuit of profit, make mistakes and malpractice, then walk away.
"I love the place I live, but I hate the people in charge." - Immortal Technique
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