Bill
of Health
Tommy
Gorman
Amidst
all the claims and counterclaims on the health of the Health Service one
thing is very clear - there is and never should have been any room for private
enterprise within the this vital resource. The Thatcherite policy of privatising
everything is being pursued, with even more gusto, by New Labour. When privatisation
is permitted into health provision and its ancillary services we should
all be concerned.
The
only motivation for private business is the maximisation of profit for their
investment. Private companies are answerable to no one except their shareholders.
In pursuit of ever increasing returns, they will keep wages and other overheads
as low as possible. In the lead up to the privatation of cleaning services
within the NHS trade unions warned of the consequences of such a move -
the loss of jobs and other cut-backs resulting inevitably in a drop in the
standard of delivery. Their concerns were ignored and their predictions
have proved, if anything, to be an underestimation of the problems
In
the past 18 months it is estimated that over 1,200 people have died within
the NHS as the result of infections picked up in hospital. The virus within
local hospitals is but the latest symptom of a more profound malaise caused
by the greed of private business who, without any apparent opposition from
political representatives, are well on their way to transforming the caring
service into a money spinning industry.
Our
television screens are regularly filled with images of the consequences
of privatisation on the rail system in Britain-crashes and trains running
late or not at all. If our health service runs off the rails because of
the demands for ever increasing profits the consequences will be infinitely
more disastrous for us all, but particularly for those in most need in our
society.
