4 Jul 2017
The government is on the brink of privatising NHS Professionals. We can’t let this happen. Here’s what you need to know about the sell off.
What is NHS Professionals?
NHS Professionals provides 88,000 staff to 60 out of 250 NHS Trusts. It allows Trusts to cheaply recruit healthcare workers, avoiding expensive private recruitment companies which charge a commission on top of wages. And it’s a huge success, saving the NHS £70 million per year. Currently, NHS Professionals is owned entirely by the Department of Health, and run for people, not profit.
What’s happening?
The government has put up 74.9% of NHS Professionals for sale. Whoever wins the bid will control the organisation. That’s bad news for the cost and quality of NHS care. A privately run NHS Professionals would put its shareholders’ profits before the people our NHS is meant to serve. To make those profits it could end up charging NHS Trusts more for recruitment, and making cuts.
Who's responsible?
The government has been paying consultancy giant Deloitte to arrange the sell off, so it's already costing us money.
The key players in the government are Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, Philip Dunne, Minister of State for Health, and Ben Masterson, Head of Companies Management at the Department of Health.
And there are at least two potential buyers: Staffline, headed by Andrew Hogarth and John Crabtree, and - we believe, though this is unconfirmed - Aurelius Equity Opportunities, led by Dirk Markus and Tristan Nagler.
The bosses of NHS Professionals are also letting this happen: Nick Kirkbride, Colin McCready, and Robin Williams.
What can I do?
The privatisation of NHS Professionals is due to take place within weeks, and the government are hoping it will go through without a fuss. But they have no mandate. 84% of us want a publicly owned NHS. If we make enough noise we can stop this sell off.
Sign the petition here!
Comments
Andrew Massey 8 years ago
Bastards !
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Parveen Hafeez 8 years ago
Bunch of PARASITES.
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Jennifer Brock 8 years ago
How can they sell something that is not theirs - the NHS belongs to the people of this country, we have and continue to pay for it through taxation, whilst they employ accounts and scurry around looking for loopholes and ways to avoid paying tax. Keep your grubby hands off!
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Kay Sandham 8 years ago
The NHS belongs to the people not the government they have no right to sell it for profit to their mates
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stan fichele 8 years ago
There is no logical justification for the sale. It's cronyism.
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June bains 8 years ago
The tories are an underhand bunch of assets strippers. Make sure everyone knows what they are planning. You will find that they will be trying to rush through any privitisation that they can before they are ousted from office.
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Frances coldman 8 years ago
Unbelievable!!!
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Mark 8 years ago
"Not privatising" one of hundreds of #ToryLies . The vast majority of UK citizens want our NHS to be run free of profit motivation, so why do the Tories continue to push #ourNHS towards a profit generating system for corporate and, thus, the elite's deep pockets? A democracy? Hardly. We live in an 'Electoral Dictatorship' (search the term for info).
The reality is we in the UK live in a Broken Democracy. Proportional representation is a huge step in the right direction to Make Votes Matter (www.makevotesmatter.org.uk) and ensure that We Own important services such as healthcare, firefighting, policing & public transport to name a few.
WeOwnIt because We Already Pay!
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Shirley Seaton 8 years ago
Why not leave well alone , if it works dont change it ! They have already put theraputic carers in at a lower band , lowering the amount of available shifts to NHSP staff .
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