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Labour Party conference opposes health privatisation policies
The successful motion was proposed by
"Leave the privatisation and failing markets to the Tories... This is their agenda not ours.
"We need to listen, listen to people who want their NHS local, who want the NHS to be financially stable, who trust the million plus people who work in the NHS."
Prentis also attacked the "permanent revolution" in the NHS, with health trusts "made insecure by short term targets to tackle historic debt."
But he was abruptly cut short before finishing his speech - as he had exceeded the five-minute limit but given no reminder from the chair - to heckles from the conference hall, which included NHS staff waving placards saying "Save Our NHS".
The motion called on the government to "rethink the headlong rush to a competitive system".
It warned: "Immense damage is being done to some local services because of deficits and the breakneck speed of change".
Sharon Holder of the GMB trade union, supporting the motion, said that union members in the NHS “are committed to the modernisation of health services and dedicated to the well-being of patient care.” She continued:
“To be blunt, they've been alienated by market reforms, the undermining of agenda for change and the climate of deficit restructuring. They're fed up with competition. Fed up with PFI. Fed up with privatisation.
“Privatisation like that taking place at NHS logistics to DHL. DHL - a company known for its poor employment record. Who recently converted its pension scheme to a system of salary sacrifice. Stripping the exchequer of national insurance contributions worth millions. Putting it in the hands of shareholders.
“All of this whilst negotiating the multi-billion pound contract with the NHS. The same DHL who plan to sack 3000 existing employees to make way for the introduction of casual labour.”
Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt, defending the government’s position, told the Labour Party conference that profit was not a "dirty word" and private firms could help efficiency.
She added: "This isn't privatisation...We are not selling off NHS hospitals."
Chaos, expense and debt
This claim by the Health Secretary is true only in the narrowest sense. Under the government’s Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme, when old hospitals need to be replaced, the new hospital buildings become the property of private firms. Hospitals are also forced to act like private companies, competing with each other in order to obtain government funds. Private contractors provide an increasing range of services which previously were performed by NHS staff, and the government is insisting that routine operations must be carried out in privately owned and run clinics.
Despite the government’s assertion that the private market increases efficiency, the marketisation and privatisation measures have proved to be very expensive and are causing chaos within the health service, with many local health trusts having to close services or reduce staffing levels. Spontaneous demonstrations in protest have taken place in several areas.
The PFI programme is causing a rising level of public sector debt which is difficult to quantify because of obscure accounting methods. According to a Daily Telegraph report on 21st September 2006, PFI is currently "worth" £48 billion.
Despite the objections of ministers, the Unison motion was carried with 71% of the vote. However the government has no intention of changing course.
If the British government were to reverse its privatisation policy, the change would attract popular support. An opinion poll commissioned by Unison and carried out by YouGov in 2005 found that 89% of the British public believe that public services should be “run by the government or local authorities, rather than by private companies.” Only 8% expressed agreement with the statement that “public services such as NHS hospitals and schools should be run by private companies for profit”.
As the conference debate took place, union members at NHS Logistics were taking part in the second of a series of strikes aimed at preventing the privatisation of the organisation to the German-owned parcels company DHL. Staff who are already permanent DHL employees are also due to be balloted for strike action by the GMB trade union; this is because 3,000 of them are facing dismissal. The company intends to replace them with casual workers.