The Health and Social Care Bill: 10 things for the Lords to consider

1. Privatisation

“Privatisation” has become the central battle ground of the reforms. The bill is unashamedly supportive of markets and competition, with the government believing that this is the best way to improve the quality of NHS services. But the word “privatisation” has been interpreted and objected to in many ways.

Some health unions vociferously opposed the bill on the basis that it is the first step down a road to a fully private insurance system like that in the United States.1 Others do not believe this will happen but are still forcefully arguing that the bill amounts to privatisation. Writing in the BMJ, Clive Peedell, co-chairman of the NHS Consultants’ Association, claimed that “the World Health Organization has defined privatisation in healthcare as “a process in which non-governmental actors become increasingly involved in the financing and/or provision of healthcare services” and as such the bill was clearly a move in this direction.2

Although amendments to the bill have softened the language, much of the central drive remains the same. However, both Conservative and Liberal Democrat ministers …