'The extraction of private profits from the system has proven catastrophic for patients'

NHS campaigners have today called for the new Labour government to end austerity and private sector involvement in the health service. This follows the publication a damning report into the state of the NHS.

The report from the independent peer Lord Darzi was commissioned by the Labour government when it entered office. It says that the long delays for healthcare services are leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths and that the NHS is in ‘critical condition’.

Darzi’s report highlights three key issues that have damaged the health service – austerity and cuts under the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government, Andrew Lansley’s reorganisation which introduced more private sector involvement into the NHS, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Lansley’s 2012 Health and Social Care Act was branded by Darzi as a “calamity without international precedent” and “disastrous”.

The prime minister Keir Starmer has responded to the report, saying the Tories “broke” the NHS and that this was “unforgivable”. He went on to say that Lansley’s 2012 NHS reforms were “ideologically-driven” and “hopelessly misconceived”.

However, Starmer indicated that Labour won’t be increasing NHS funding without introducing reforms to the health service. He said: “We have to fix the plumbing before turning on the taps. So hear me when I say this – no more money without reform.”

The report has led to calls from health campaigners for an end to austerity and privatisation in the NHS.

Johnbosco Nwogbo, lead campaigner at the public ownership campaign group We Own It said: “Lord Darzi is right to call the 2012 NHS reforms a “calamity”. Among other things, our research shows that opening the NHS to significant for-profit private involvement has resulted in £10 million being taken out of the NHS in private profits every week since 2012.

“Combined with historically low capital investment, the extraction of private profits from the system has proven catastrophic for patients. It has deprived the health service of resources that could have been effectively deployed in patient care. And as recent research from the University of Oxford has shown, it has contributed to treatable mortality.

“Alongside the big shifts from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention the government is talking about, patients also need a big shift from private to public. This could see up to 94% of all current outsourced NHS services brought back into the NHS as their contracts end during this parliament. 87% of the public in the latest YouGov poll say they want the NHS to be run completely in the public sector.”

Meanwhile, Dr John Puntis, Co-Chair of Keep Our NHS Public and retired consultant paediatrician said: “Not surprisingly, Lord Darzi’s thoughts reflect those of health campaigners and think tanks that have persistently highlighted the deteriorating state of the NHS for many years. Viewing the 2012 Health and Social Care Act as “a calamity without international precedent” he warns that further top-down reorganisations are neither necessary nor desirable. Failings in the NHS cannot be laid at the door of managers, and any move to a different model of care would be unwise given that other health systems, such as those where user charges, social or private insurance play a bigger role, are more expensive.

“According to Darzi, the NHS may be in a critical condition but its’ vital signs are still strong. Given the right treatment, therefore, it could be restored to health. As set out in his terms of reference, Darzi has not ventured to suggest specific policy including addressing overall budgetary issues. However, it is clear he considers that austerity and ongoing underfunding have starved the NHS of the resources it needs to meet growing demand thus preventing it from functioning efficiently.

“When Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced the Darzi review was being held, he is quoted as saying that it would aim at “diagnosing the problem” so the government could “write the prescription”. In the modern era, any treatment should be founded on the best available science while taking into account the views of patients and professionals. Darzi has thrown down the gauntlet. Will government rise to the challenge or will it mistakenly conclude that the wrong treatment – ‘reform’ and further austerity – are just what the doctor ordered? If so, this would be both a tragedy for patients and a huge rebuff to Lord Darzi.”

Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward

Image credit: Garry Knight – Creative Commons

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