With a broken promise, the government has handed the NHS over to the market | Clive Peedell

Reassurances on clinicians and local people controlling how services are commissioned look likely to be overturnedThe NHS needs to be reformed to remain true to its founding principles; the question is how. International evidence suggests that increasing marketisation and privatisation of healthcare services leads to greater expenditure, greater variations in care, reduced access to services, and erosion of professional standards. On that basis, the reforms have been heading in the wrong direction for a long time, with all the major political parties supporting policies that increase the role of the private sector in the NHS.New Labour's own market-driven reforms laid the ground for Andrew Lansley's THealth and Social Care Act, which in turn paves the way for a mixed funding system. Yet, with public and patient satisfaction in the NHS at an all-time high prior to the Lansley reforms, the case for such radical changes has not been made, let alone won.In the face of public and professional opposition to Lansley's bill, coalition MPs and peers eventually passed the legislation only after receiving reassurances from senior ministers that there would be no NHS privatisation, and a focus on integration of services rather than competition.However, the privatisation debate has now been reignited by revelations about section 75 of the act and the associated statutory instruments(SI 257 regulations) making their way through parliament. The regulations are aimed at making competitive te...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Comment The Guardian Society Politics Privatisation NHS Andrew Lansley Comment is free Source Type: news