Greater protection needed for NHS in future

FORMER health secretary Jeremy Hunt wants stronger protections for the NHS in trade talks with the European Union to avoid the health service being up for grabs in any future deals.

The chairman of the parliamentary Health and Social Care Committee said it was an “omission” for the EU negotiation mandate not to cite it would maintain minimum standards for health services.

Mr Hunt suggested there could be trouble to come in relation to the NHS, which is under strain dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, in future trade deals with other countries if the Government did not seek further commitments from Brussels.

Boris Johnson, who beat Mr Hunt in the Conservative Party leadership race last year, has stressed that the NHS will not be on the table in any trade discussions with the US, but there is concern in some circles that President Donald Trump will look to make provision for big stateside pharmaceutical and medical companies within the UK health system as part of any cross-Atlantic agreement.

Mr Hunt said: “The general omission is of health as a regulatory ‘floor’ in these discussions.

“While we would not expect the EU to seek to lower health standards, this agreement will be the first substantive free-trade agreement that the UK will strike since Brexit, and it will be the reference point for all that follow.

“There is substantial public concern around the NHS and health more generally in relation to our trade agreements.

“We propose that the UK should seek to make a shared commitment to protecting health and national health systems as part of these negotiations, in order to defuse tensions on this issue for the future.”

He made the comments in a letter