UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, brandished a ‘NHS – Not For Sale’ sign at the union’s National Women Conference in Harrogate today (18 February), as he warned delegates that savage Government plans will turn our health service into little more than a logo.
In a speech to 650 delegates – representing the one million women members working across public services – the chief of the UK’s largest union slammed the Con-Dem’s plans for huge cuts and changes in the Health and Social Care Bill, that will devastate the NHS.
Talking about the Bill, Dave Prentis said:
“The Government is taking an £80 billion gamble with the lives of patients in their savage attack on the NHS.
“The Con-Dem’s friends in big business will be the only ones to gain in the bid to change the NHS into little more than a big brand name.
“The squeeze on NHS finances is already leading to longer waiting times and canceled operations. It is designed to push those who can afford it into the beds and onto the balance sheets of private hospitals.
“Private companies are salivating at the prospect of making a mint out of our NHS. We must act now, as once services have been tendered they will be subject to competition law and we will lose the national health service forever.”