29.09.11
Labour will block private firms – Healey
Shadow Health Secretary John Healey told the Labour party conference that they would block private firms from running hospitals.
He told delegates: “Hospitals are at the heart of our NHS; they should be in public not private hands; dedicated totally to patients, not profits. So we will oppose any government move to privatise NHS hospitals. We will guarantee under Labour that NHS hospitals remain in the NHS.”
He also said the party would tighten the rules on care homes, saying that Labour would favour firms with a social ethos over those driven by a ‘narrow commercial interest’, by differentiating between good and bad companies, with the power to regulate for best business practices.
He said: “People's confidence in care was shaken by the crisis at Southern Cross. Care for some of the most vulnerable in our society, traded by predatory fund managers who saw elderly people as commodities and dementia as a high-profit market.
“We did not act before but we will in future. So we will regulate for the best business practices as well as the best care standards. We will guarantee under Labour that NHS hospitals remain in the NHS. Labour will look instead to develop integrated care organisations to allow primary, secondary and social care to work together.
“And because our values demand we're not neutral on who provides care, we will look to promote those that share a true social ethos over those driven by narrow commercial interests.”
However, experts said it would not be easy to differentiate between providers. “You have some very good investor-owned companies with a very strong orientation on patients and some very inefficient mutual organisations which do not,” said Chris Ham of the King's Fund.
Tell us what you think – have your say below, or email us directly at [email protected]