NHS Privatisation Plans Slammed

1.53.44pm GMT Tue 1st Nov 2005

Liberal Democrats at today's Council County meeting supported Labour and Green calls to halt the proposed privatisation of commissioning of health services. The Strategic Health Authority has suggested that Oxfordshire should be the first area in the country to have primary care services commissioned by private companies.

Cllr Dermot Roaf said, "We know that the health service in Oxfordshire is in a funding crisis, and we are very worried about the effect on patients. But to suggest that one way to solve this is to privatise the management of commissioning of the services misses the point, and seems bizarre. We need to tackle the underfunding of the NHS in Oxfordshire, not privatise it."

Cllr Janet Godden suggested at Council that the County Council might set up a trust to commission primary health and social services together. "The County Council and the Primary Care Trusts work together very closely at the moment, to ensure continuing medical and social care for people," she said. "This would be building on this. It would make the best use of what money there is. And it would have the advantage of ensuring that NHS Commissioning was kept in public, democratic control. Commissioning is not just about quantity and price - it is about equity and prioritisation. And it needs therefore to be accountable to the public."