NHS Privatisation Explained - NHS Takeover Bill

In the month of July 2021, a controversial Health and Care bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons. 

The UK government says that the bill is an important help to the NHS as there was a lot of destruction caused due to the pandemic. But the critics say that it is, NHS corporate takeover.

The British Medical Association says it is a power grab and the MP’s should immediately reject the legislation. The bill does not address the workforce shortages at NHS or protect the NHS from outsourcing to various large corporations

Is this NHS Privatisation Bill?

Reasons why this bill is designed to privatize the NHS

  • Dr. Bob Gill said the bill states to Build Back Better, but his question is for whom? It is definitely not for the public, patients, and taxpayers. The Health and Care Bill is designed to double down on the decades of catastrophic privatization policy.
  • The NHS will be split into different sections and money will be allocated to them. The government will then set a budget for each of these sectors from which the private corporations can extract profit
  • The new bill's aim is to expand patient charging systems. This is not about improving the quality of care for patients or enabling excellence within the staff.
  • The amount of money spent on delivering care will reduce as the administration, bureaucracy, and profit-taking expand to reach US levels.
  • The bill states that decision-making powers will pass upwards in the hands of politicians. 
  • According to one healthcare worker, the bill is frustrating and confusing. She is frustrated as this is another attack on health care staff and confused to understand why we continue to be undervalued, also more concerning that this bill is an attack on patients. She says the bill pushes us into a healthcare system for profit, not people.

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