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THREAD: £9 billion of the NHS budget was spent on private providers last year.

The common response we receive is: “So what? As long as it’s still free for me.”

But we'll all be worse off if the use of private providers continues to grow and here’s why…
theguardian.com/society/2019/j…
1. The NHS payment system is complicated. Hospitals get ‘paid’ with government funds for each case or procedure they perform.

Private providers can and do receive this 'payment' instead, winning £15 billion of NHS contracts over the past 5 years.

theguardian.com/society/2019/n…
2. But private providers deliberately target stand-alone, ‘profitable’ services that are quick and straightforward, like orthopaedics.
3. We’ve also seen US companies take over large amounts of mental health services in the NHS.

In fact, one US provider recently boasted of earning more than £188m in just three months from British public services.

inews.co.uk/opinion/swathe…
4. This leaves the NHS to fund all the more complex and expensive areas, only now the funds they could have used to subsidise these may have been given to the likes of Virgin Care or US companies.

theguardian.com/society/2018/a…
5. When NHS providers don’t have the funds they need to deliver the required services, they have to try and balance the books.

This could result in staff cuts, stopping services, or even closing down whole hospitals, as we’ve seen happen before.

m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/what-its…
6. Private providers also don’t help the current staffing crisis, because they don’t pay the huge amount of money it takes to train NHS staff.

Instead they simply poach the staff when they need them.

theguardian.com/society/2016/n…
7. They are even allowed to advertise their vacant posts on the NHS jobs platform.
8. By making quality of life and working environments worse, paying staff less in real terms, and decimating morale, the government has made private providers look like a much better place to work than they did previously.

theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/f…
9. Private providers are also able to pick up and drop services, or even whole hospitals, when they feel like it; for example, if they decide they are no longer profitable.
10. This happened to Hinchingbrooke Hospital in 2012, when it was taken over by Circle, a private company.

By 2015 they decided to hand it back to the NHS, saying budget cuts and high demand made the deal unsustainable.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…
11. In addition, private providers actually provide less safe care in many cases.

For example, last year it was found that 2 out of every 5 private hospitals were failing when it came to patient safety.

independent.co.uk/news/health/pr…
12. Every year around 6,000 people have to be transferred from private hospitals to the NHS for emergency care.

This costs around £250m, which private providers don’t pay for.

The more we involve private companies in future, the more this will happen.
dailymail.co.uk/health/article…
13. At the same time, private providers are not subject to the same transparency and accountability as NHS organisations.

For example, you can’t submit a Freedom of Information request to Virgin Care as you could to an NHS organisation.
14. Private organisations are also able to sue the NHS, which Virgin Care did in 2016 after failing to win a contract.

metro.co.uk/2018/12/15/ric…
15. NHS data is also a major issue and believed to be worth billions to private companies.

It is not surprising that the US want to involve your NHS data in future trade deals, or that Google has been accused of secretly caching 50 million US records.
theguardian.com/technology/201…
16. Ultimately, private providers have to make a profit.

This means they need to find ways to provide healthcare more cheaply than the NHS.

Whilst obviously needing to make sure things are cost-effective, NHS providers are motivated by providing the best possible care.
17. In addition, Virgin Care didn’t pay corporation tax in the UK in 2017, despite making a profit of £8 million.

independent.co.uk/news/business/…
18. This all has a huge impact on staff goodwill, which is vital to the NHS.

Many staff give more because because they believe in what the NHS stands for.

In fact, NHS staff work over 1 million hours of unpaid overtime every week.

theguardian.com/society/2019/n…
19. But the more private providers deliver NHS services, the more we risk losing that goodwill.
20. Because as healthcare staff, our NHS contributes to our sense of identity in a way that private health providers never could.

Equally, many Brits are rightly proud to say our NHS is publicly provided, but would you say the same if it was all provided by Virgin?
21. So as you can see, it really DOES matter who provides NHS services.

This is not just about keeping it free at the point of use, but ensuring health services are as safe as possible for you and your family.
22. Provision of healthcare is a complex issue and easily made the victim of soundbites, but there is overwhelming evidence we are heading in the wrong direction right now.

You can change that on 12th December.
23. It is essential that we ensure our NHS is sustainable for the future, and that vital funds are invested in public services, not directed to shareholder pockets.

Please share this thread to raise awareness and follow @NHSMillion to help campaign against future privatisation.
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