Union Safety - Official Website of NW BT Union Health and Safety Coordinators Committee: So You Don't Believe NHS England Is Pushing Patients Into Paid Private Treatment?

banner unionsafete

In 2019 Warrington Hospital was amongst the first to promote the principle of patients being charged for treatment for services they consider to be 'of low clinical value', following the decision by NHS England that some 31 clinical procedures and treatments can no longer be done on the NHS!

The Daily Mirror reported on this new promotion of private paid-for treatment services by the NHS, which is total anathema to the principle of "universal healthcare for all" on which the NHS was founded in 1948!

This was the future of the NHS as it was being prepared for the take-over by a system based on the denial of healthcare in order to maximise profit - the American 'profit not healthcare' principle underlying what is probably the least effective healthcare system in the world! The USA is the greatest proponent of profiteering from absolutely everything and healthcare is the biggest profit centre of them all!

Now that the Health & Care Act 2022 has totally abolished the principle of 'universal healthcare for all', the media is full of advertisement for healthcare apps, private healthcare services, and is promoted by NHS England as being the way forward for people to be responsible for their own healthcare and for the use of the NHS to be a 'last resort'.

The charges shown on the NHS MyChoice website include that of the cost of an epidural being administered during childbirth!

However, the Hospital was forced to put their charging scheme 'on hold' following a huge camapign by those opposing the scheme. None the less, the scheme will be back simply because NHS England fully support the privatisation of all hospital treatment and charging for it as in the USA.

The pressure group 'Save Liverpool Women's Hospital' take up the story on their website:

"After a few weeks of sustained pressure from NHS campaigners, setting up demonstrations outside the hospitals, handing out 5000 leaflets all over the Liverpool City Region at music festivals, parks, hospitals, NHS stalls etc and having hundreds of conversations with the public plus getting thousands of signatures on petitions, the Trust was forced to “pause” the My Choice scheme.

It was even discussed by Sir Simon Stevens, the head of NHS England and the architect of NHS privatisation imposing the US healthcare model on our NHS. He mentioned it in a parliamentary committee and said that the “marketing” of My Choice was Misguided”.

Note he wasn’t saying the scheme should not have been put in place or that patients shouldn’t have to pay. Just that they got the “marketing” wrong. The reason for this is that Mel Pickup the CEO at Warrington was doing exactly what the Tory government and NHS England plan for all of us.

She just didn’t bank on NHS campaigners cottoning on to the experiment. It will be "un-paused” at some point when they think the dust has settled."

In June 2019, the Liverpool Echo reporting on the decision by Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Trust to put the MyChoice service on hold; reported that Labour MP for Weaver Vale Mike Amesbury warned that it will no doubt raise it's head again:

“This is good news on the face of things and I’m pleased to see the Trust has listened to concerns not only raised by myself and Labour colleagues, but unions and the wider community too."

He added:

"I’m taking this news at face value but we must also be guarded too, as this would only appear to be a temporary pause. More broadly, this is testament to what we can do when we all work together and fight for our NHS."

In conclusion he said:

"The next step now is to prevent urgent care services at Halton Hospital from being run by a 'for profit' private sector operator. This is something I will be continuing to campaign on.”

Source: Daily Mirror / Save Liverpool Women's Hospital / Gov UK

Designed, Hosted and Maintained by Union Safety Services