Share

Patient care will suffer under government's private funding schemes

How private finance is moving primary care into corporate ownership

Will primary care trusts lead to US-style health care?

The introduction of public-private partnerships is changing the way in which primary care in the United Kingdom is financed. Two papers in this week's BMJ examine the implications of these changes and ask whether the government can safeguard the goals and principles of the NHS when healthcare is provided on a purely commercial basis.

Using private finance to fund capital investment will present important new cost pressures, argue the authors. They report that by 2007, NHS trusts will have to find £4.5bn from annual revenue allocations to service their private finance debts and capital charges. This, they say, will be at the expense of clinical services and patient care, unless there is a commensurate level of funding.

Furthermore, implementation of the Health and Social Care Bill - which will allow the private sector to operate and run clinical and social care services on behalf of the state - will force trusts to find ways of constraining expenditure through rationing, user charges and commercial activities. More patients are likely to find themselves paying for elements of care that they once received free under the NHS, say the authors.

If the principles of the NHS are to be upheld, the Health and Social Care Bill must be amended to abolish charges for personal care and prevent privatisation of clinical services and staff, they conclude.

Contact:

Professor Allyson Pollock, School of Public Health Policy, University College London, London, UK Email: allyson.pollock@ucl.ac.uk

Share

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.