THE PRIVATE SECTOR IS TAKING OVER THE NHS. The Health and Care Act passed this year dismantles a national, universal and comprehensive service. The aim and effect is to privatise and ration and to deskill the workforce, forcing those who can afford it into private insurance companies.
Some examples of private healthcare companies operating NHS contracts (See: everydoctor.org.uk/nhs-privatisation-map for all of UK) in our local area:
- Kidney Dialysis (Lewisham Hospital and Thamesmead). Run by Diaverum owned by Bridgepoint Capital, an international investment fund.
- Centene Corporation, a giant US corporation owns Blackheath (private) Hospital. It is the major contractor for running GPs surgeries in the UK. In our area a subsidiary of Centene – AT Medics – runs Primary Care Centre, Rushey Green and Thamesmead Health Centre. It runs the MSK services in Eltham.
- University Hospital Lewisham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital Greenwich have Private Finance Initiative contracts with ISS (for cleaning, laundry etc), and with Meridian, Vinci and Bouyges for maintenance of buildings.
- Urgent Care Centre – part of QEH A&E is run by Greenbrook Healthcare which is a subsidiary of Totally PLC a major UK based healthcare company.
- Cygnet Hospital is the Blackheath Brain Injury Rehabilitation Centre. Cygnet Health Care is the second largest private provider of mental health services in the UK. It is owned by the US corporation, Universal Health Services Inc.
- Greenwich Peninsula Practice is run by OMNES Health care which is a subsidiary of Evergreen Health Solutions Ltd (an investment company). Stephen Dorrell was made a director in January 2022. He was Secretary of State for Health under John Major and became chair of the NHS Confederation in 2015.
Waiting three weeks to speak to a GP on the phone?
Primary healthcare is in crisis. Even before the pandemic, the UK had only 76 GPs per 100,000 people, while Portugal had 224 and Belgium 115 GPs per 100,000 people. There are now 2,200 patients for every GP in England. GP practices are being taken over by US corporations.
Join us to fight to Reclaim the NHS – Take back what was ours!