The private sector is taking over our NHS

I’M afraid that the NHS is under even worse threat than Paul Broadhurst writes (‘NHS really is under threat,’ M.E.N. Viewpoints, August 21).

He mentions bank and agency staff but they are currently recruited by NHS Professionals, set up in 2001 as a public sector alternative to stop the £3.7 billion annual bill from growing.

However, the government are in the process of privatising it, and the turnover of £389 million a year will be very attractive to the vultures that have failed the public in previous privatisations. In typical fashion, the government brought in private sector consultants to manage the agency in preparation for selling it off.

Despite the new structure being a ‘partnership’ with the government, the contractual mechanisms will probably be as ineffective as those seen in another such structure, NHS Shared Business Services, which lost 700,000 letters at a cost of £6.6 billion. The failure was exposed by the National Audit Office.

The private sector, milking the tax-payer to make their profits, is so heavily entwined in all our public services that it will be very difficult to regain democratic control again. A first step will be to identify and regularly publish all the lobbyists and their meetings with ministers, advisers and senior civil servants, as well as the business sector payments to MPs. Steve Roman, Manchester