To get the perspective of the NHS reforms from a
healthcare worker, Socialist.net talked to Martin Booth, Chair of the Unison health branch
at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge and Secretary of the Cambridgeshire
Against the Cuts campaign.
To get the perspective of the NHS reforms from a
healthcare worker, we talked to Martin Booth, Chair of the Unison health branch
at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge and Secretary of the Cambridgeshire
Against the Cuts campaign.
Socialist Appeal: What changes have taken place in the
NHS over the past decade?
Martin Booth: During the years of New Labour, there was a
lot of money put into the NHS, but a lot of us in the NHS felt that the money
could have been spent a lot better. There were a lot of short-term quick fixes
to reduce waiting lists, such as encouraging private hospitals to take on
people on waiting lists, and a lot of money put into Private Finance
Initiatives to build new hospitals that ended up just boosting the profits of
big property developers.
SA: What are your opinions of the coalition government’s
proposed NHS reforms?
MB: These proposals came as a shock to a lot of people after
the election when Andrew Lansley started talking about these changes that
hadn’t been mentioned before the election by either the Tories or the Lib Dems,
and which are really the most blatant move yet to privatise the NHS. The
proposals take money away from any publically accountable body and put it in
the hands of GP consortia, most of which haven’t even been set up yet, to spend
on “any willing provider” to provide health care. It opens the door to the
private sector to come in and take NHS funds and provide NHS treatment in a way
that has never been done before. It’s clear that these proposals are intended
to privatise the NHS, and that’s what we need to spell out to people and
campaign on. If you want your NHS to remain public, stop this bill.
SA: How will the proposals affect NHS staff and patients?
MB: Under the NHS bill, all NHS hospitals will become
“foundation trusts” and will be in competition with the private sector. This
means that pay and conditions will increasingly be set by local employers
rather than having any national element to it. Up till now there have been
nationally negotiation terms and conditions within the NHS, but this won’t be
the case any more, so staff will see wages and pensions driven down. This is
all part of the bigger picture of breaking up the NHS into lots of competing
organisations, which will have disastrous consequences for patients. It will
make the current “postcode lottery” of what services and treatment is available
locally far worse, and increasingly it will depend on your ability to pay.
SA: Do you think these proposals for the NHS are linked
to the other cuts that are being made in the public sector?
I think it’s clear that the government is intent on smashing
up the public services in order to privatise them and allow people to make
money out of them. The Tories cynically claimed that they would protect the NHS
from funding cuts before the election, but in fact that’s not happening. Now
it’s emerged that 7-8% cuts are going to have to be made in the NHS spending.
By making cuts to certain services, you create an opening for private companies
to step in. We’re heading towards a two-tier health system, like that in the
USA. I think it’s important that we see the link between cuts and
privatisation; the two things are inseparable.
SA: What do you think need to happen next to defend the
NHS against these proposals? What role can the trade unions play?
MB:
The trade unions need to mobilise and take action – including industrial action
– to protect pay, pensions, and conditions. But the trade unions also have to
turn out, and broaden out, to the wider sections of the community who use
health services and all the public sector. The trade unions shouldn’t just be
protecting their own members, but must be taking the lead in defending the
health service as a whole. That’s why I think it’s important that we have local
organisations like Cambridgeshire Against the Cuts, where the unions can play a
leading role in working alongside communities to defend public services. In
regards to action, I think we need to take any kind of action that is
necessary. That includes political campaigning – petitioning, leafleting, etc.
– right up to occupying any facilities that are faced with closure and taking
them over.
