The National Health Service (NHS) has historically been the provider of all healthcare services in the UK, whether through NHS hospitals or local GPs, supported by ancillary services such as health visitors and district nurses. Increasingly, over recent years, and in the same way that other public services are being ‘contracted out’ to the private sector, the Department of Health (DoH) is looking to contract out the provision of primary healthcare services.
Our rubbish is collected from our doorsteps, not by employees of the local authority, but by employees of (probably) a French-owned private company. Why should a range of primary medical healthcare services (e.g. urology, diabetes, dermatology and minor surgery) not be contracted out by a local primary care trust (PCT) to contractors employed by (probably) a US private company?
