The NHS will become nothing more than a brand logo to be attached to competing providers within a loosely monitored health system. It is also critical to challenge the myth that the NHS is being spared the cuts - it is not. £20bn has been demanded over the next few years which has seen health boards projecting massive deficits.
All of this without any electoral mandate for plans that were not included in either the Tory or Lib Dem election manifestos, or even in the Coalition Programme for Government once they took power. In just two months the plans went from partly elected Primary Care Trust boards, to the abolishment of Primary Care Trusts.
No mandate, no consultation, no piloting, and no evidence base. In fact every week a new report points to the deficiencies in throwing the entire £80bn commissioning budget at GPs - particularly as most of them don't even want it.
Apart from anything else, forcing through so much change so quickly will produce massive instability, which will impact on the quality of services, and patients' ability to access them.
So, we must mobilise now before it's too late. UNISON's 'Our NHS, Our Future' campaign is doing just this. We must unite all health trade unions, user groups, and community groups in a campaign to keep our save our NHS, and ensure that it remains a national public health service, not one which is profit driven.”
http://www.unison.org.uk/news/news_view.asp?did=6335
