Privatisation through the backdoor?

It's no bad thing and should be a means-tested programme.

Theresa May's husband allegedly owns a large private ambulance service which is now very well known, certainly in London and has mopped up many of the non emergency contracts mentioned by tanith.

There's been cases of private hospitals performing operations and when complications arise delivering the patient to an NHS A&E department, without patient notes.

This sounds unbelievable, but as an ex NHS campaigner I know it to be true.

Richard Branson & Virgin Health have sued NHS England for huge sums when a contract bid was unsuccessful, and won, costing us huge amounts.

I've no time for RB or any other private medical treatment and find making profits out of people's illnesses unconscionable.

Ever noticed these private hospitals don’t have A&E departments - no they leave the messy work to the NHS it seems!

kitty - I am afraid it does not work well and the regulation is a joke. It is political dogma writ large.

Many people jump in and out of the systems- jumping queues but then having their operation via NHS. Many Consultants work for both private and NHS, and deliberately keep thei NHS waiting list massive- but then say 'ah but I can do it privately next week for £££'.

etc, etc - could write a book ...

Our GP admin made an appointment to see a London consultant on the phone. However when the secretary phoned to discuss turns out that this was a private appointment. So, NHS staff, using NHS equipment and time, make private appointments? Go figure. The NHS is a cash cow for a lot of people and organisations.

Quite shocked to read this urmstongran, will look at the article.
Health is devolved here in Wales. Dil is a hospital doctor and she sees more privatisation as inevitable if the NHS is to survive. It must be well regulated though.

I don't have an automatic dislike of it - so long as it works better and is well regulated.

It’s very wrong but it’s been going on for many years in the NHS sadly. Private companies were snapping up non-urgent Ambulance contracts in London hospitals up to 15 yrs ago it started before I retired and their staff were seriously lacking in training and despite complaints and protests it’s spread throughout the services nowadays all non-urgent work is done by privates and the LOndon Ambulance Service use them also when they are over stretched.
Not good, profit before patients can’t be right.

I am totally against privatising the NHS. Any company that has its focus on making money is not going to put patients first. They will cherry pick the easier non-expensive patients and leave the long term sick to a second rate underfunded NHS. We haven't the funds to treat everyone adequately as it is, why would we pour more money into profit for private companies?

I have personal experience of this, reluctantly taking on a job to manage the sexual health services for London on behalf of a private consortium now gone out of business. Their knowledge of how to run a health service was abysmal, their ignorance was terrifying.