Challenges of private provision in the NHS: Real story is beginning to emerge

doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7528.1338-a

BMJ 2005;331:1338 (3 December), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7528.1338-a

Letter

Challenges of private provision in the NHS

Real story is beginning to emerge

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Timmins's argument that the NHS has never beenexclusively "public sector" is misleading.¹ It obscures theastonishing growth and concentration of corporate power in thehealth sector. When the NHS was created, pharmaceutical companieswere in their infancy, whereas today they rank among the mostpowerful corporations in the world.

Throughout the NHS's history, most general practitioners havebeen independent contractors. However, the BMA's survey of generalpractitioners' opinion in 2001 showed that most doctors nowsee themselves as part of the NHS and do not want a greaterrole for private companies in primary care.² Even "entrepreneurial"doctors are hardly in the same league as multinational privatefirms.

The involvement of big business is already damaging the NHS.The private finance initiative (PFI) and its latest incarnation,local improvement finance trust (LIFT), hand over control ofhospitals and surgeries to private consortia, which view themnot primarily . . . [Full text of this article]

Rachel Aldred, researcher

Goldsmiths College, University of London, London SE14 6NW Rachel.Aldred@gold.ac.uk