Privatising primary care

[摘要] The judicial review of the decision to award general practice services in Derby to an American corporation UnitedHealth Europe (UHE) goes to the heart of the corporate takeover of the NHS. Lawyers representing the Secretary of State told the judge that the contract to UHE was no different from replacing a retiring GP, a decision made hundreds of times a year.1 But this careful choreography has failed to dispel growing anxieties about the aggressive commercial takeover of general practice and other NHS clinical services. There has been little discussion about the risks and costs of opening general practice to the market. When challenged, government replies that general practice has always been run as a business because GPs are independent contractors to the NHS. But there are crucial differences in the policy with serious implications for staff and patients.

[学科分类] 卫生学