UNISON, the UK’s largest union, today reiterated its call for the Health and Social Care Bill to be pronounced DOA – dead on arrival – after a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report said it posed a real threat to patient care.
The report also raises concerns about the real cost of the reforms, the systems in place to protect patients and taxpayers, and the ability of GP practices and hospitals to gain consortia or Foundation Trust status.
Christina McAnea, UNISON Head of Health, said:
“Another week, another report warns that the Health and Social Care Bill poses a real danger to patients. The NHS and its staff have always adapted to change, but this Bill takes a wrecking ball to the NHS as we know it.
“Along with many other major health organisations and patient groups, UNISON has long been warning that the Bill is the wrong prescription for the NHS. And the evidence just keeps on mounting. It’s time for this bill to be shelved for good, not just temporarily be put on hold.”
UNISON’s opposition to the titanic Health and Social Care Bill
* Big cuts in health spending. These are being taken from patient care and leading to job losses – including clinical staff – across the NHS.
* Opening up the NHS to private profit. Taxpayers’ money destined for NHS patients will be diverted into shareholder profits.
* NHS patients will be pushed to the back of the queue because the proposed Bill will take the cap off the amount hospitals can earn from private patients.
* It means competition, not co-operation. The government wants to run the NHS through competition between different health providers and market forces.
* It will create a huge postcode lottery. The care patients can expect will vary from place to place, increasing costs and health inequalities and hurting vulnerable people the most. No-one voted for this.
* The NHS is working and public satisfaction with the NHS is at an all time high. If it ain’t broke, why fix it?
ENDS