Here are the GP Practices taken over by US health insurance giant Centene

Comments

• jim gault 4 years ago

  Most people in Britain today can't imagine having to pay for treatment, but for my parents generation it was commonplace for families to be unable to afford medical help. People suffered painful illness all the time. Imagine watching one of your children suffering because you couldn't afford the doctors bills. That's how it was until 1949..... and that's what this government has planned for us when they've sold our health service to the highest bidder. It's already well on it's way.

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  • P barrett 4 years ago

    The privatisation of the NHS through the back door is disgraceful this should cease immediately .TheNHS is free at source should remain so. It is typical of the Americans to make a profit out of the pain and suffering of people they are morally bankrupt and this government Should be held to account.All of the those areas of the NHS that have been privatised should be taken back into public ownership as soon as is practically possible.

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    • Jean Davis 4 years ago

      I agree people pay NI out of wages for NHS and have done for about 70 years keep it as is

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      • Patrick Lilley 4 years ago

        NHS funding (approx. 80%) from general taxation... the govt recently starting taking more from NI.

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    • Brenda Brown 3 years ago

      Yes if people knew that it is being done through back door then it would be stopped and the ones are usa owned be given back to people this information has to get out to eveyone. Thank you

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    • Margaret 3 years ago

      I watched a programme on this company tonight , I knew 2 years ago there was something wrong I don’t think it was covid , just a excuse to privatise our n h s
      This is a disgrace we can’t let the tories sell it we have to stand up and be counted Margaret x

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      • KASales 3 years ago

        Sadly and possibly more shockingly, it wasn’t the Tories who bought in the legislation that allowed this. We can thank Sir Tony Blair for opening this particular door.
        This is an extract from the BBC news report

        ‘Since the NHS's inception, GP practices have been run as private businesses, owned and managed by doctors known as "partners", providing services to the NHS, rather than being directly employed by it.
        But in 2007, the then-Labour government changed the rules, allowing larger businesses to buy up practices in England, in an effort to drive competition and innovation.’

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    • Chhobi Mallik 2 years ago

      It won't be possible because consecutive British Governments - when cash strapped- had to sell assets to raise funds to provide for their follies. USA knows when and where to invest their money and also know that they cannot buy back what they lost. Our Governments do not have that mindset how to run a profit making business. They only know how to get more money from increasing Taxes from ordinary people but do not plug the loop-holes for tax evading foreign business who had over the years flooded our markets and high streets. Over the years I have noticed our people had been misguided and misinformed by our own respective governments. We do not have a real leader courageous enough to stand up to the US or China trade policies.

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    • Linda Rogers 2 years ago

      I agree

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    • Sandra Harle 2 years ago

      So agree and thousands of people have died who have paid into the NHS and never used it or hardly ever so there money was there as well as the many from everyone else who pays into it. We want it to stay as it is it WAS NOT SET UP TO LINE THE POCKETS of greedy share holders and OUR government needs to do something NOW. WE need to take back control before its too late it was meant for all to use not just the rich and privalidged. This is beyond back handing practise

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  • Michael Coleman 4 years ago

    Jim, you're wrong about the highest bidder, bungling boris and his gangsters don't really understand money (we give them so much of it - and expenses) they just want to sell our NHS to anyone, so that the working class will suffer; just the old days when the poor went to the workhouse!

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    • B Ingley 3 years ago

      It's looking like the Oligarchs are already controlling our Government in many different ways and they have to be stopped. Boris doesn't run our country, nor do any of the other MPs unless, of course, they are one of these elites. There's bound to be at least one amongst them! Our democracy is being taken away little by little!

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    • Barbara 3 years ago

      Every day it's looking more like our country is not being run by the Government but by the Oligarchs. Boris isn't running the country, he's being used! Wait and see or try to do something about it!

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      • Peter betsworth 2 years ago

        I am totally opposed to the sell off of our gps surgeries or any part of our NHS. We must take them all back under democratic, public control and kick these greedy us companies out now. I'm and democratic socialist that believes these services should be public ally owned!

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      • Peter betsworth 2 years ago

        I am totally opposed to the sell off of our gps surgeries or any part of our NHS. We must take them all back under democratic, public control and kick these greedy us companies out now. I'm and democratic socialist that believes these services should be public ally owned!

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  • Jan 4 years ago

    And did it in such a way people were not aware of it.

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  • Kim Edwards 4 years ago

    Watch 'Groundswell' a film by John Furse (2018 I think) and we see how much further our country has moved towards the Conservatives objective of privatising the NHS by stealth. We will keep fighting against it.

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    • Margaret Spector 4 years ago

      If you want to help join our group headed by John Furse.

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      • LU LARGE 3 years ago

        Have been conscious of this happening on a local level in London over a number of years - but most people thought I was just a conspiratory theorist. The biggest 'black market' crime is that patients have not been made aware/or have a choice about it nefore or when they have to visit GP or go into hospital. From my view there is not alot to be proud of being "British" at present but the NHS definitely is/was. Thank you John Furze

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      • Christine Braithwaite 3 years ago

        I read an article in The Independant today 7th March about this privatisation of gp practices and I'm now concerned that the same might apply to mine, Harborne Medical in Birmingham ? I'm.shocked to read that this underhand acquisition has been going on for so long as today was the first time I'd read about it! But I think it's now becoming obvious that Covid might have been a cover for a degree of transition maybe for some practices? Besides poor service still being the case for mine and other practices, I've noticed there are now far more GPS doing private work so is this also a lucrative part of the mass takeover?

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        • Fatema Patwa 3 years ago

          We are with Lordswood Road Medical Surgery in Harborne and are also concerned that it may have been taken over by a corporate. We will ge happy to join a campaign to bring it back to it being owned by GPs themselves.

      • Graham Masters 3 years ago

        How do you stop a government from selling off our NHS. I bet all the mp's in all the different parties know about it.they are not going to rock a boat. Just take their money and run.they are all gready and untrustworthy. No MP ever tells the truth they just skirt around it. They have a degree on how to be a liar.

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  • Joe blogs 3 years ago

    This Tory Government has promised and praised our NHS in every way and anyway possible especially during the pandemic only but this is all part of the plan they have been performing behind everyones back and that is with the continuation of (selling it off through the back door)and they’re performance in this covering it all up (giving it all the praise in the world)is only visible to the gullible is when those people who can’t see it happening need treatment and only then do they start complaining about having to wait for hours in the A and E or trying to get a GP appointment and they can’t this is usually the only time do they wake up and question themselves and start thinking is this all due to the so-called privatisation that supposed to be happening?
    Yes it is and those responsible are same people who they hear bragging how brilliant it is and then have the nerve to be clapping for ALL NHS workers knowing that it’s actually falling apart from the seams and this is what they want as to give them the excuse to say it’s time to make some changes ( changers that have already happened) under the noses of the people who are complaining about waiting times or getting a GP appointment ect … these same people need a wake up call before it’s too late and another way is for the opposition party’s to make it more public by being more vocal and until now I haven’t heard anything serious or loud enough that has woken up the eyes of the general public because if they knew what’s happening in front of them they’d be on the streets up in arms screaming at the people who they voted into power and they (those voters) fell for all the lies hook line and sinker, the size of this cover up is similar to Russia’s denial of the Salisbury attack.
    The sooner these compulsive lairs are out the better but in three years time I think there will be nothing left to sell.
    Stay safe everyone and goodbye!
    From Liverpool

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    • L Jones 3 years ago

      Don’t know what I can add to the discussion, anyone seen todays news on Operose?
      Health services, utilities, public transport, social care none of these should be in the hands of profiteering companies out for the shareholders and big bonuses

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  • ANGELA 2 years ago

    We do pay, it is not free. I paid all my working life for health care via my National Insurance. This was for nearly 60 years. It was intended originally to be free at the point of need for UK residents.

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• nicholas humby 4 years ago

  This is another privatisation of our NHS which belongs to us all and seems to be happening by stealth.It's a typical Tory tactic and it must be brought to the public's attention.

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  • Roger Luffman 4 years ago

    Sadly there are people in the Labour Party even now who are actively invved in the privatisation of our NHS. At the very least they should be named and shamed.

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    • Zak 4 years ago

      We're waiting for the names... Meanwhile probably better to concentrate on those in power?

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    • Sheila Mawaziny 4 years ago

      That is disgusting. At least I can ask my MP if she is one of them and everyone who has a Labour MP could do the same.
      Unfortunately I suspect that much of this shady business is carried on out of hearing and sight.
      The problem is that many people are completely unaware of the impact of not having a good NHS .

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    • Denise Fowler 4 years ago

      I ENTIRELY AGREE

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    • Lisa Robinson 4 years ago

      Is this honestly true, Roger Luffman? I find it impossible to believe and would appreciate evidence, please, if you write this for the public to see and believe....

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    • Art D 4 years ago

      The Parliamentary arm of the Labour Party has never been fully committed to Socialist government since 1950, if then. The spirit of 1945 was voiced [too quietly] by Jeremy Corbyn who inspired a huge majority of the party and brought in many new younger members, whose access to 21st century information no doubt taught them common-sense. Well-regulated capitalism is the best-available system of economy PROVIDED it is founded on principles of Socialism. As Lenin said so vehemently, words to this effect, "All those who have means and ability, contribute generously to the wealth of the People, which will provide for those who are less able to survive unaided." Profiteers at the pinnacle of success are taking too large a share of the income generated by all in the team; Employers are no more entitled than workers, to gain a fair living from their input. How is possessing capital to invest and skills to navigate the opportunities and pitfalls of commerce calculated to be worth so much more than the workers who invest all their assets, brain and body into making their employers' and shareholders rich while the workers are paid barely enough to live, and that not very happily? Mixed Economy regulating practical terms between enterprise and welfare must be the formula; No 'In-work benefits: If a business cannot afford to pay its employees a living wage, it is not a viable enterprise; If it yet pays its investors and managers well enough, its employees are being short-changed if they also need benefits from the public purse. i.e. spreading the true cost of production among all tax-payers instead of running a business to be self-sufficient. The bleeding obvious? So it should be with the NHS; spread the cost among UK tax-payers all contributing a fair percentage of income. No Foreign profiteers, thank you.

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    • Valerie Lea 3 years ago

      An American colleague working with me (OVER 10 years ago )in the NHS said to me “ Never let them get rid of your NHS. It is Amazing. Never let it get like the American system …THATS ALL ABOUT MONEY.
      So the question is…..who is there (across all parties ) who will stand up and stop the privatisation by stealth. It is immoral on so many levels. Who can be trusted ?

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• Martin Sookias 4 years ago

  I remember my father, as a very caring GP, being thrilled when finally he could prescribe the medicines his patients needed rather than what they might be able to afford. It seems that, in every area in which the quality of life matters, whether it's health, education, food, our barely United Kingdom, even our natural global freedoms of personal association, the malign influence of Brexit is hell-bent on destruction.

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• Michael Gascoigne 4 years ago

  I find it incredible that NHS surgeries are being owned by large American companies. This is not what the founding fathers of the NHS had in mind in 1947/48. Boris, step up to the mark and make the NHS a British, publicly owned organisation., just as was planned in 1947 and became publicly owned when it came into existence in 1948.

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  • Barbara Wotton 4 years ago

    I totally agree but the generation that have enjoyed knowing you will be cared for free of charge is on the way out and the new generation have no idea what they will be in for when the NHS has gone I dont understand how this could be happening especially as we have been promised that no way would the NHS be sold off but slowly behind all our backs it's going I wish I knew how much more how this works it seems in 10 to 15 years we will end up like USA not being able to give people with Diabetes there prescription without them paying a very high price so the people who are on a limited budget suffer

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    • Nigel Page 4 years ago

      Agree with all you said apart from the 10 or 15 years. Because there is no opposition, the next term of Tory Government will see see health for profit mainly implanted by then.

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    • Alan Bond 4 years ago

      The tories have NEVER supported the idea of the NHS and they have worked since its inception to undermine it. The much vaunted Winston Churchill voted time and again against the creation of the NHS and tory leaders since then have chipped away at its funding. Thatcher was the biggest enemy and thousands died because of her and her piecemeal cuts. On the 6th May we have an opportunity to show our disgust by making sure that as few tories as possible get re-elected to councils, as mayors, as police commissioners and in every other facet of our electoral system. VOTE THE TORIES OUT or suffer the consequences, they can NEVER be trusted. WE need to send a message to the Downing Street serial liar and aduterer that his comeuppance is on the way !

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  • Peter Callomon 4 years ago

    too late. The horse has bolted and Boris was riding the horse. The tory fanatics have been swinging their majority almost from day1 and the UK is much the worst for it.

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• E Harkin 4 years ago

  So, the NHS is not 'on the table' then!
  I am incensed by this and have to wonder why I didn't know.
  A stop MUST be put to this and the NHS brought back fully in to public ownership.

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• Lynne Crowe 4 years ago

  Why isn't the British press making a fuss about this? The PM has said time and time again that he definitely won't privatise the NHS. Does Kier Starmer know about it? Why isn't he making a fuss too?

  I thought D Cameron's government was the worst in my lifetime, but he was an innocent compared !

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  • Joe 4 years ago

    Because the British press is owned by the elite, Murdock for one who want NHS privatisation. Corbyn did warn us and thevp press called him a liar. NH$

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  • Linden Empson 4 years ago

    It was going on under Cameron's reign. There has been one giant cover up from the beginning. Could it be due to a Tory Press and
    Tory ideology, which opposed the introduction of the NHS at the outset, that doesn't believe in State Funding for pretty well anything,and certainly not a Welfare State.

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    • Michael Coleman 4 years ago

      In a nutshell, the tory owned media. So you'll never see it in the press or on tv.

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    • austin horne 4 years ago

      It was going on under Blair's government too !

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      • wil gan 3 years ago

        absolutely right austin - at least we know what the tories are up to, Blair, Browne and their cronies were just as bad; who can forget the pair of them scurrying off to Australia, upon being elected, to get their instructions from Rupert Murdoch.

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  • Claire Hetherington 4 years ago

    In a nutshell, we don't hear about this in the British press because Murdoch. Dear old Rupe and a few other like minded oligarchs run the British Press and the British Government as well (whether under Johnson or Starmer) for the benefit of themselves and other obscenely greedy billionaires. The reason Jeremy Corbyn was so vilified in the British Press was that, unlike many politicians, he could not be browbeaten, bribed, or bought. If he'd made it to 10 Downing Street (as he very nearly did in 2017) we'd be feeling a lot more secure about our NHS and American Healthcare giants would be facing the wrath of their disappointed shareholders..... we can but dream.

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  • amy 3 years ago

    Because the Labour govt in 2007 made the changes to allow GP surgeries to be bought by companies instead of being run by groups of GP's

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• j Ireland 4 years ago

  Once again, despite promises to the contrary, this government is selling off our national institutionsby stealth. It is time it was stopped and made public what they are about. It would be interesting to know how many of our MPs. and other public figures/organisations have shares etc in these companies.

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  • Anthony (Tony) Goodchild 4 years ago

    Not just stopped, but *reversed*. Why aren't hospital doctors able to buy up these practices? ... No need to answer!

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• Patricia Jean Lee 4 years ago

  This simply must not be allowed to happen.! What is our government thinking of? We as a nation do not want it.

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  • Anonymous 4 years ago

    Privatisation of the NHS has ALWAYS been the intention if this government. They lie all the time but too many are all too willing to believe, or disregard the lies until the consequences affect them personally. I'm old and won't be around to suffer the consequences for long but I'm desperately worried about the future for my family

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    • anonymouse 4 years ago

      Am in the same position and couldn't agree more!

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• Jeff Mathews 4 years ago

  Once again this Tory government says one thing and does something entirely different. I remember David Cameron proclaiming his love for the NHS before throwing it under Lansley's bus. Johnson has said something similar, but he is known for his struggles with truth, surprised I’m not, disgusted by the Tory's cavalier approach to the good things in the UK, yes I am.
  Why are we so powerless in the face of so much deception by politicians that claim to uphold our values.

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• Cynthia Ankers 4 years ago

  this is a disgrace. I was unaware this was happening, I am sure most of the population would be horrified if they knew this was happening. How has sit been allowed to happen?

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  • Margaret Hayday 4 years ago

    Agree wholeheartedly but I’m in a state of shock that our NHS has become a bargaining tool. I am alarmed to learn the media are holding back, they are quick enough to ruin a person’s reputation but are keeping mum that our NHS is up for grabs by no other than an American company who would let their own people die in the streets if they didn’t show the almighty dollar. How can we, Joe public, shout from the roof tops to gain the necessary attention to stop this happening. GOD SAVE OUR NHS

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• Frances Bell 4 years ago

  I had no idea. surely it should be the NHS that benefits from the everyday health system

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• melissa ironside 4 years ago

  I absolutely agree with this cause. People should not profit from national causes such as this.

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• John Mansbridge 4 years ago

  This is the result of yet another Johnson lie. Once a liar, always a liar.

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• Alisoun Gardner-Medwin 4 years ago

  working in the USA, my late husband worried because he had not only to decide whether a procedure would give enough information to help the patient to make it worth while exposing him/her to the pain, but he also had to decide whether the parents could afford it. He spent his life working for the NHS, and never took a private patient.

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• William Riley 4 years ago

  Please send the list to Private Eye who tend to be sympathetic to our cause. It's worth a try.

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• M Gordon 4 years ago

  This is being done without public knowledge, without consultation on the implications, and against all of the principles of the NHS. Our health care is not there to make profits for American corporations or be sold by this government to any greedy organisation where making money prevails . Clearly the government abet and agree with this shameful betrayal of the NHS. And what better time to do it - by stealth during the covid pandemic. Are we surprised? I think not. We must make this disgraceful state of affairs known to the nation!!!! How can we make this a public outcry?

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• Malcolm Grant 4 years ago

  Tory governments have been hell bent on re privatising the NHS since 1948 The very idea of a public health service is anathema to their
  ideology. If they could find a way to meter it they would sell the very air we breath. This government in particular stinks of corruption.

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  • ken 4 years ago

    We need a general election to get the stinking tory party OUT as soon as possible.

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• Laraine Mallalieu 4 years ago

  What a disgraceful state of affairs. How can the Tories get away with this? OUR pride & joy which they underfunded for years. Now selling Doctors Surgeries to America. Corruption of the Highest Degree!

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• Maggie Johnson 4 years ago

  So very worrying.

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  • paul evans 4 years ago

    This is a disgrace we must not let this happen this needs to be told by the press and we must demonstrate to show them that it is not for sale at any price

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• RONALD Thompson 4 years ago

  It is time people in the UK woke up and realise the extent to which the presious NHS is already privatised and how much of our income tax is going into the back, and front, pockets of greedy private companies.

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• Trevor Kelley 4 years ago

  I remember my father, who was a staunch supporter of the NHS, telling me that his father died, in 1941, of a simple chest infection, at the age of 53, simply because they couldn't afford medical care! If this 'government' gets its way, stories like this could well be come commonplace in the near future. The Tories have always been jealous of the NHS, because ithey has never come up with anything that is so popular with the electorate.

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• TonySomerset 4 years ago

  This Government is in a rush, behind closed doors, to bring in american-styled health services. The tipping point of no return is already behind us. We are well advanced on their route map to private health insurance whilst claiming to 'protect' our NHS. Healthcare for profit? Shout out loud and tell all your friends to shout out too, if you do not want a NHS run for Profit.

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• Frank Kenneth MUGFORD 4 years ago

  DO NOT TRUST THE tories WITH OUR NHS. tories, for the most part, are greedy, selfish LIARS. They are like pigs at the trough; they and their mates are feeding with gusto off of brexit and now Covid. How do they get away with it? I ought to be a conservative and have a lot to conserve but I could and would never vote tory; they are liars and bullies.
  Do not trust the tories with the NHS. They cannot be trusted because they are ideologically, probably genetically, disposed to privatise all public services and, in particular, OUR NHS.

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• Karen Morley 4 years ago

  Totally agree in paying GPs it would allow more quality time and NHS should help for A&E and other emergencies

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• Richard Lown 4 years ago

  A further example of Tory duplicity and lies - this is our NHS and shouldn not be for salwe to rapacious profiteers. For the people not the few!

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  • b 3 years ago

    Many folk here also fooling themselves that Labour will put things right ?
    They will not, nothing will change under. them, too much cash in hand involved , Americans willingly pay up to keep any chance of losing their scams and lucrative payouts for all left or right politicos ,!
    Our one and only possibility is a mass ( poll tax style ) march on Westminster !

    nothing will change under them, too

    ay offs and

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• Norman Rimmell 4 years ago

  The problem is that GP services have always been privately owned since the inception of the NHS in 1948. Nye Bevan had to concede this in order to het GP’s on board in face of enormous opposition at yhe time grom the whole medical profession. What is needd is legislation to take these services out of private hands and place them in public ownership. As a Labour Party member I shall table a motion to this effect at my next branch meeting, demanding that it be made LP policy. I suggest all LP readers of this do the same.

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• Ian Christie 4 years ago

  I had no idea that GP Surgeries could be sold and bought, naively thinking they were co-operatively owned by doctors! This is certainly not common knowledge, and no doubt not widely advertised, wither by the Govt or by the new owners.

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• Kath Hall 4 years ago

  It’s amazing what business can be done under the cloud of Covid and the chaos of Brexit .! So quietly and shadily.

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• anita soley 4 years ago

  Keir Starmer needs to issue a warning of what will happen to these private health deals once Labour gets in and meanwhile, let’s all do what we can to bring that about.

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• Michael Coleman 4 years ago

  How can you all be surprized?

  tories despise us, the working class, ordinary people went on strike in 'The Great Unrest' during 1910 to 1914 and the tories have never forgotten it!

  During WW2 there were more than 2000 'stoppages' with workers wanting better pay and conditions and the tories have never forgotten it!
  In 1943 soldiers in the 8th Army were pressured into denouncing strikes and 'The 8th Army News' headlined with "The right to strike is one of the freedoms we are fighting for" and the tories have never forgotten it!

  tony liar and his pal Gordon Brown tried to stop strikes when THEY invaded Iraq.

  Surely ever since thatcher who used (probably) the police and the press against the miners in 1982 and later on the fire fighters, you must see what a disgusting and despicable bunch the tories are.

  During the covid 19 pandemic if you knew an mp you could get a contract to supply PPE, never mind that it was useless as long as you got the contract. serco failed at track and trace - apparently the CEO doesn't know the company failed -
  but he and his shareholders are laughing all the way to the bank.

  Think of the tories in the same way as donald trump; self seeking, greedy, bombastic heartless bullies.

  Why wouldn't they sell our NHS to their old school chums or the Americaan health insurance companies, if there's a few quid in it for them?

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• Nigel Cooper 4 years ago

  Whenever Johnsons mouth moves it means he is lying. He promised us the NHS was not on the table for sale and he goes and does this. They recently put a law through Parliament that people with Covid should not be resuscitated if in hospital with the virus. This Government is vile even by Tory standards and that is saying something .

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• Anonymous 4 years ago

  So they have taken over the one I am registered with. Not happy about this at all.

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• Vytis Baltrunas 4 years ago

  I live in Scotland so this won't effect me but I find it disgusting that this has happened in England, it goes against everything the NHS was created for.
  Shame on the English government for doing this to its people its criminal.

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• christine Burnett 4 years ago

  Keep our NHS for the people.

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• Brexit 4 years ago

  It was quite clear during Brexit campaign that the main goal was to get rid of EU regulations to be able to sell more to the US. Too bad people believed imminent lies like giving millions more per week to NHS. The money saved on EU membership will go into pockets of politicians and their companies, not back to public.

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• Patricia Reid 4 years ago

  I have known for 3 or 4 years that my GP had become totally different!!! I am old enough to remember at the beginning of the war I was very ill and given a new drug (M&B antibiotic) and every Fri night the Doctors wife came to collect money for my treatment they too were not wealthy!!! Do some of Government have shares in these companies? My Father has been sold up the road for what he fought for in 1945.The GP all most told me I was a old fool and I did not what I was talking about.Treatment at the GP is nil and the newspapers should make it known.

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• Carol Milner 4 years ago

  I do not trust the Tories with our NHS, though to be fair I don't trust them with anything else either! They want to saddle the UK with a lousy 'health system like the US one. When the poot and those in jobs that do not have health insurance sicken and die wothout treatment and the rich boast to the world about their onderful health care.

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• Roger Gartland 4 years ago

  "A free Health Service is a triumphant example of the superiority of collective action and public initiative appled to a segment of a society where commercial principles are seen at their worst." Aneurin Bevan, "In Place of Fear" 1952.

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• Maya Ali 4 years ago

  The very thought of making profit from what can be people’s misery is so so very wrong .

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• Hugh Griffen one cchap here asked why are we so p 4 years ago

  One chap here said "why are we so powerless. Things like this cannot be stopped if one party,, has a majority, that can defeat all the opposition parties, even when they are working together! This is currently the case for the tories right now. And as everything the government does, or does not do, is in the name of the Queen, the tories can do what they like! Neither the Tories or the monarch, give two hoots about the will of the people, and don't have to anyway, because of glaring faults, in the Parliamentary system of the UK. Until this is rectified no government in this country can be held accountable, by the people! This is a common, mistaken belief held by nearly everyone in the UK. That is where the real problem lies in the UK. NO GOVERNMENT CAN BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ANYTHING!!

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• Kim sawbridge 4 years ago

  Boycott GP surgeries owned by foreign investment.

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• Sammy PALFREY 4 years ago

  I love the NHS. I am proud of it when i look at healthcare provision around the around the world i feel lucky. But the reality is that there are greedy money-makers particularly America who want to get their dirty hands on our healthcare provision and we have to fight that all the way

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  • Anonymous 4 years ago

    If we lose any of our healthcare Britain would be rubbish to live in

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  • Hella Huber El-Droubie 4 years ago

    I agree with the above statement. Ultimately it is our government who allows it!

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• Ash Molloy 4 years ago

  Hard to believe.

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• Pete Dennis 4 years ago

  Parts of the NHS should not be owned by any company, be it British, American or anybody.

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• Esperanza Schlaepfer 4 years ago

  No part of the NHS should be owned by a private company, regardless of nationality. It should remain publicly owned and we should all be prepared to contribute to make sure it serves us all, regardless of personal income.

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• Jennifer Barrett 4 years ago

  I am horrified at the privatisation by stealth of our wonderful NHS. I am old enough - just - to remember what it was like before we had universal health care free at the point of access. My parents suffered from not being able to afford to pay as they were from poor working class families. Why is there not a national campaign of outrage to stop this? Do people really believe the private sector can do it better? I have lived in the USA and know the one thing that people there obsess about is their inability to pay for health care. Even those who have insurance find it is not comprehensive. There is no excuse that we cannot afford it. After WW2 this country was in no different a situation to what we are now and yet the NHS was set up, pensions introduced, education for all. Neither my husband nor I would be alive if it was not for the NHS. Making profit from people's suffering is a disgrace and morally corrupt. We have to fight!

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• Maureen Tilford 4 years ago

  First of all, can we find out how a practice can be 'sold'? What is the process? Who signed the bill of sale? What was the point? Were these practices 'failing'?
  Secondly, you can be sure that there will be a cast iron and irreversible contract with the American company. Even if we mount a massive public campaign to stop the sell off of any more practices, there will be no way back for those already sold down the river without punitive financial penalties.
  Thirdly, there must be totally transparent scrutiny of how these practices are run: let us see their patient care outcome measures.
  They must publish their accounts and reveal how much are they paying their share holders and their senior executives. What bonus are they paying the CEO?

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• Anonymous 4 years ago

  Save our NHS we need it and would never be able to pay for our medications .It is disgusting how dare these politicians do this!

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• Gloria Syred 4 years ago

  What a shock!

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• Mr J Borg 4 years ago

  Save the NHS . Kick these greedy businesses out .

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• M.Cripps 4 years ago

  Why is an American company being allowed to takeover our NHS surgeries.?What will the next step be? Will the patients at the surgeries that are now not going to be governed
  by the NHS be expected to pay for their prescriptions.? Why are we letting a foreign company purchase our NHS surgeries?
  It was a wonderful achievement for this country when the NHS was launched. What will the next things that will be going under the hammer to the highest bidder, our hospitals, schools, universities?
  How can the government allow for this to happen, will we be in the position that I actually found myself in on a visit to America, I was taken ill and had to attend a clinic, and before I was even asked what my problem was, I was asked if I had medical insurance, will this become the norm at the surgeries that we are being told will no longer be owned by the NHS??
  If this is allowed to continue, what will the medical future hold for the next generations ??

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  • Linda Powell 4 years ago

    This is horrendous.

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• Deepi Sanganee 4 years ago

  This is discusting saling our health to us we work heard and pay nhs to protact our helth and they are saling out our priority our rights Today they saling our health tomorow they going to sale our pension after that our banks our business so we living in brighton so we proudly call british but slaves of amarica. Is that we british wants ??? is this is our childran further looks like ??? Is that what we living inheritance for our childran

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• Marie Archer 4 years ago

  I am amazed and appalled at the number sold off already .People just don't realise what is going on as the Tories are doing it all by stealth!

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• Tess Smith 4 years ago

  This back door privatisation of the NHS had been going on for years. Virgin health care run A and Es all over the country and had the temerity to sue the government when they didn't win a contract.
  I wouldn't want to have with a GP practice which is putting profit before patients and staff.
  The government should be ashamed.

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• Bhavesh Sutaria 4 years ago

  No doubt oil is greasing the wheels. US companies only come here if they can make huge profit. This will be at our costly expense. Why are we paying 45% marginal tax plus NI. What for ? It's an outrage. Society will face huge inequality. In USA, 78% of bankruptcies are due to unpaid hospital medical bills. A broken foot can set one back $10,000. Pregnancy complication $30,000. Major surgery $100,000+. You have insurance but get ready to pay £1,000/mth per family + for it. Wake up and shout, else you'll be sold down the river. In US or other places, one major medical issue can destroy a family. The haves will rule with great opportunity. Rest will mostly be poor labourers and find life extremely hard to get opportunity.

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• Janice Joannou 4 years ago

  Our NHS has always been the envy of the world so why are we now joining the race to the bottom? A decade of underinvestment and derisory pay awards has paved the way for this privatisation. We were warned many, many times, These are political nor economic decisions.

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• Terry Hart 4 years ago

  We all agree that the NHS should not be sold off piecemeal or ask private companies to "bid" for specific contracts like Covid Track and Trace which has been proven to be an abject failure and colossally expensive. However, we can be certain that it will continue along with the "privatisation" of other key services, especially in the social work field.
  The real problem that the British people face is one of rampant apathy, apparently willing to bemoan the events before us but incapable of challenging the powers that be that are enacting these changes at our expense.
  Unfortunately so many of our younger members of society are more than happy to adopt the American ideals of Me First, Second and Third. The sooner we all realise that society is reliant on every member of the population for its future and safety then perhaps the changes we urgently need will remain a dream.
  Simply removing the Tories will have little effect, too many politicians are Part Timers, reliant on their income from Business to be troubled by such protests.

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• Barrie Hay 4 years ago

  I still have my "Never Trust a Tory with the NHS" t-shirt. And soon we won't be able to protest if the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is passed!

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• William. croxford 4 years ago

  This must stop nhs belongs to us .how dare they starmer must get involved johnson said it was safe in their hands.he lied once again .the recent 37 surgerys sold how much for.we want answers know.

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• Mike Lambden 4 years ago

  It would appear that the practices concerned were already operated by third parties under APMS contracts which were introduced by the 2004 NHS changes.
  Don't forget that nearly all GP practices are private businesses working under contract to the NHS which is a throw back to 1948 when the BMA didn't want to sign up the NHS.

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• Frances Bradley 4 years ago

  Public money funds the NHS. Services should not be run for profit by private providers. Now the NHS Charity is sending letters to raise money for amenities for overworked staff!!!!

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• Yvonne C 4 years ago

  I had the best GP/NHS service at Hanley GP services up until AT Medics took over around 2017/8. All I'm saying is, Please do not go by the books cover it's all too pretty on the surface. I had/have my opinion and that is why I pulled away from the services of AT Medics at Hanley Road. Saw right through them, they create a set of organisation and professionalism, too many staff to which I've overheard one of their team leaders ranting about a Service User, unprofessionalism jumped in, the thing was they gave an air of authoritarianism which made them look quite foolish they believed were saving a surgery that needed changing???... Sadly, they seemed to have a problem with long term GP's. All mental health/substance abuse stopped services taken away. I was left with no one I knew or could trust, gone was my beautiful place where I felt safe. they were wonderful hard-working people from the top of the scale to bottom. That period for me was a worrying time as I more or less decided not to use AT Medics and was for about 6 months without GP. To me, a doctor is a special individual who will always know more about me than anyone.
  their offerings of

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• Carolyn Harman 4 years ago

  Is this really happening ? It’s like a bad dream....

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• Cathie 4 years ago

  There is no mention of the 26 surgeries gone in Harrow?

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  • Alice 4 years ago

    Hi Cathie,

    Thanks for leaving a comment. We aren't aware of 26 surgeries in Harrow being taken over by Centene, but if you have further information you would like to send us, please do contact info@weownit.org.uk.

    Thanks for being part of our movement for people not profit!

    Best wishes,
    Alice and the We Own It team

    Reply

• Kate Wellby 4 years ago

  I had no idea. So underhand, so appalling and sad to think a government could secretly do this. I am ashamed of them.

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• William Croxford 4 years ago

  Why should the nhs be sold off i was led to beleive when we left the eu we were going to be richer by at least 300 million pounds and this was to be every week.that was promised by the pm a lie obviously

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• Sally McCarthy 4 years ago

  If you had believed Corbyn, the honest leader, instead of the Conservatives, this would not be happening.
  You were all warned.

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• PBedford 4 years ago

  European and American health research centres have routinely found the NHS to be the best health care service of the wealthiest industrialised countries. We are lauded for quality, service coordination and especially access. US healthcare services trail far behind the NHS in all service areas except for the enormous profits that are made for greedy groups and individuals in their rampant capitalist system. IT IS NOT ABOUT IMPROVING HEALTH CARE. IT IS ABOUT MAKING MORE MONEY FOR THE RICH; INCLUDING OUR CONSERVATIVE GOVT AND SELF INTERESTED SUPPORTERS. I had thought that even they would be too ashamed to countenance such a move. No wonder it is being done secretly, without democratic debate. The NHS has stood at the heart of our democracy with fairness, no cost at the point of use and access for all. No wonder this govt have spent no effort addressing Brexit and the Coronavirus; their real interest has been on moneymaking scams for themselves at the cost of our democracy; apparently in collusion with media scams and misinformation. Journalists who used to hold power to account are now muted along with opposition MPs.

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• Sharon Lucas 4 years ago

  This is disgusting. It is everyone’s NHS NOT for private ownership. It is the only service we have left!

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• Kaushik Patel 4 years ago

  Morally bankrupt Ameticans using NHS through the back door only to make moneyis absolutely disgraceful this should be immediately stopped.The NHS is UK public owned, is free at source and should remain so.

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• Alison Hughes 4 years ago

  Absolutely agree with previous comment

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• Angela Foster 4 years ago

  This has happened without any information or choice for the patients of these surgeries or the general public. So much for ‘Our NHS’ it’s all happening in secret behind our backs. Contact your MP I have.

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• Helen Oyedepo 4 years ago

  The reason why it is possible for these surgeries to be sold is because of private ownership by rich people since 1948.Doctors in the past loved the vocation not motivated by more money but now,serpent came and offer dangling baits of money. Campaign should now SHIFT to parliament to use our NI CONTS WISELY. But then, man's inhumanity to man made them give the contracts to greedy people with huge bribes..We need kinder way to invest and reward our NINO Contributions accessibility at the point of need This had brought huge and safe money in the past which Americans find tempting to leave alone.

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• Margaret James 4 years ago

  Keep the National Health Service national!! Paid for by the ability to pay through NI contributions, and free at the point of need. It's a no-brainer.

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• Anonymous 4 years ago

  Boris pulls out his book of lies at random to spout the rhetoric that keeps his minions, donor cronies and Tory voting misbelievers onside. Are there Tories benefitting from holding shares in these American companies and carrying out lobbying on their behalf? It would not surprise me.

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• Alicia Marshall 4 years ago

  "No society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of a lack of means" Aneurin Bevan.
  I couldn't agree more!

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• Mrs S C Prentice 4 years ago

  No part of our NHS should be sold off to insurance companies from other countries.
  The government have no right to do this under any circumstances.
  The NHS belongs and is paid for by the people of this country.
  It makes me wonder just how many of our MPs are corrupt and have received money or the promise of jobs from the foreign insurance company when they are out of office.
  And they wonder why we neither trust and believe in any word that issues from their mouths?

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• Brenda swaby 4 years ago

  I object to the Privatisation of GP practices
  STOP the purpose now.

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• Laureen Sherry 4 years ago

  Before I retired in recent years I worked in private medicine. All private health in the UK is mostly owned by US companies. They are only interested if you are healthy. They do not want to be involved in either emergency or long term illness - this is shunted on to the NHS. privately owned hospitals are not as accountable as MHS hospitals- they can hide behind ‘patient confidentiality’ for not disclosing information. Private insurance companies do not want you a) if you are sick, and b) if you are old!! I have become an activist to keep our NHS out of private hands - who trains the medics and nurses of the future?? Properly finance the NHS - it is unbeatable- if privatisation is so good why are they not out there selling it to us instead of pledging to keep the NHS public at every election??

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• Allie 4 years ago

  Hi.
   
  Just to let you know that a GP practice is missing from the list of those owned by the US company.

  The Gower Street Practice is now being run by AT Medics Ltd, in the guise of Brondesbury Medical Centre, under an Alternative Provider Medical Services contract (used because no new managing partner could be found, as it enabled services to be continued rather than closing the practice down?)
   
  Gower Street Practice
  20 Gower Street
  London
  WC1E 6DP
   
  GPs list for Gower Street Practice is the same as for this below:
   
  GP Hub Brondesbury
   Brondesbury Medical Centre
  279 Kilburn High Road
  London
  NW6 7JQ
  United Kingdom

  Maybe there are other GP practices that have been taken over in this way, so don't appear on the list?

  Not only should GP practices and local services be kept in UK ownership, but a cap should be put firmly on the numbers of GP practices that can be owned by one company or group. When these takeovers happen, whether a US company is involved, the family GP experience seems to disappear, the GPs from the taking-over practice are not familiar with the local patients and don't seem to be interested. There is often a very different 'feel' and patient experience when a local GP practice becomes part of a larger set-up. Different community health service providers might be used, larger patient numbers are managed via online tools that may feel cold and anonymous. This all affects quality of service, but this is not recognised. Keep it smaller and local.

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  • Alice 4 years ago

    Thank you for your comment, and for being part of our movement to defend our GP surgeries for people not profit!

    We have checked and the list is currently is up to date, but if you have further information you'd like to discuss please do get in touch with us at info@weownit.org.uk! Brondesbury Medical Centre is still listed on AT Medics' website as one of their practices, so we don't think it's been handed over to Centene yet. It's so important to have local people keep an eye on this process of privatisation, so thank you for checking, and do get in touch with any updates.

    Solidarity,
    Alice and the We Own It team

    Reply

• David Billett 4 years ago

  When profit is the driver for providing healthcare then you would be a fool to believe anything that the government tells you about anything. It is a absolute disgrace to sell the NHS through this bidding process that hands our health over to an American healthcare ideology that does not work.

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• barry HUGHES 4 years ago

  We now have an admitted liar "opposed" in Parliament by an imitator!

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• Ronald Allaway 4 years ago

  The nightmare continues.

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• helen tinline 3 years ago

  Since I first learned in Jan/Feb 2021 what was afoot I have told friends and acquaintances and posted wherever possible on the Internet what is happening behind our backs. However, too many people show no reaction at all. Too damned lazy to fight for the NHS. Someone else will do it for them. I just could not believe the apathy. We all need to stand up and be counted throughout the entire UK. That is my belief, anyway. Every single one of us is responsible for what happens now. It has been decided that the Privatisation of the NHS will now be accelerated. This is urgent.

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• Margaret Spector 3 years ago

  The Public are being duped by the NHS logo still being used . You go to a Doctor with an ailment and even though you are referred to a Specialist there are no treatments for tis specialist to give you. His/her hands are tied, as in mot cases, the treatments have been removed and if you want a treatment which was originally on the NHS you will have to pay for it privately. You think because a Doctor is still seeing you that you will be treated. Privatisation seeping in by stealth through the back door.

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• Catherine Crabb 3 years ago

  The NHS should be a public service run by a public body on behalf of the UK citizens and not for profit or in the interests of a company that might impose their choice of drugs due to financial and business links with drug companies. The interests of the patient should be at the fore of any decision-making and patients should not continue to be prescribed drugs that they no longer need, just to sustain the flow of money to the drug companies.

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• ann phillips 3 years ago

  this info should not be kept secret, it should be made public as it is the public who pay who pay for the NHS.

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• Rowland Leigh & Philippa Leigh 3 years ago

  I am absolutely stagered by your comments and by the Panorama programme. Keep up the good work.

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• Jacqueline Pinks 3 years ago

  So many of us would not be alive today if it were not for the NHS.
  We are already seeing the suffering of people due to this privatisation.

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• Sarah Morgan 3 years ago

  The NHS is not for sale!

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• Kenneth McAlpine 2 years ago

  This needs to be highlighted in Scotland as it seems to be happening here not just in England.This government are intent on forcing private healthcare on everyone and were letting it happen.

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