Hands off our NHS!

End privatisation - build a fully funded, publicly owned and democratically run health service

Trade unionists, health activists and local communities have been protesting in recent weeks at plans to close critical care and maternity services in general hospitals. The National Health Service (NHS) is under severe strain due to a mountain of 'debt' acquired by health trusts and hospitals due to the running of an 'internal market' by successive Tory and Labour governments.

JON DALE explains how privatisation and other big business policies are devouring the NHS, and the policies needed to stop these private 'vultures'.

When a maggot burrows in an apple little changes at first on the outside, but in time the apple rots away. Like parasitic grubs, private health companies are now eating into the core of the National Health Service. The NHS still looks much the same on the outside, but more and more clinical services are being hived out to private contractors - who employ their own staff - and aim to make a profit.

NHS privatisation began in the 1980s under the Tories, hitting services like cleaning, laundry and catering. Cleaning cuts contributed to the growth of hospital infections like MRSA and C.Diff.

Under Labour, privatisation has changed up several gears. Local health services became semi-independent with the formation of Foundation Trusts. These can act like commercial companies, selling property and services, and borrowing money.

New hospitals are only built under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). PFI schemes are like buying a house on a high interest charge credit card rather than a lower rate mortgage.

The GMB union has identified 641 current PFIs, with more than 100 new projects in the pipeline (across all public services). The total cost will be £250 billion over 25-30 years, four times the value of the assets built (£64 billion). British PFI debt is equivalent to £8,400 per taxpayer. It's £12,000 per taxpayer in Scotland.

This debt mountain will grow as private contractors demand above-inflation returns.

With the credit crunch, the government was forced to accept that "it is unlikely that private sector lending will be sufficient to deliver the scheduled pipeline of [PFI] projects." It agreed to take on the debt where the banks were refusing to lend. So much for private sector funding being 'the only way' to get new hospitals and other facilities built! But still, "the Treasury's loans will be sold to the private sector in due course" once times get easier for the bank sharks.

New health centres are now built by Local Improvement Finance Trusts (LIFT) - a 49% public, 51% privately-owned company. The shareholders of the 51% ('partners' as the government calls them) are five banks, two property companies, the Prudential and Serco - a huge service-management corporation.

These new hospitals and health centres belong to the giant corporations involved in PFI and LIFT. The NHS pays a great deal to use the buildings.

Nevertheless, until recently nearly all the nurses, physiotherapists, doctors and other front-line health workers were NHS employees, providing health care as decided by local NHS trusts.

GPs have always been independent contractors to the NHS, but were not employed by private companies whose main aim was to make a profit. All this is now changing.