German company involved in talks to take over NHS hospitals

[Synicus Maximus]

Source: Guardian UK

A German company has been in talks to take over NHS hospitals, the first tangible evidence that foreign multinationals will be able to run state-owned acute services, a market worth £8bn, the Guardian can reveal.

On the eve of the last Commons vote on the government's bill before it heads to the Lords this week, freedom of information requests reveal a series of meetings focused on "potential opportunities in London" between officials from the Department of Health, the NHS, the management consultant McKinsey and one of the largest German private hospital chains, Helios.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/sep/04/german-company-takeover-nhs-hospitals

[Demeter]

1. Foolish, foolish Cameron

[harmonicon]

2. Jesus fucking Christ....

Fuck.... what a sack of shit. The NHS is one of the greatest healthcare systems in the world and absolutely should not be fucked with. I wish some LibDems would get their shit together and dissolve the coalition.

[Yo_Mama]

4. The UK government is broke

http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/uk-economy/uk-national-debt/

It has to cut spending. I'm not clear why this proposal would, but I'm sure that's why it is being investigated.

[harmonicon]

7. Cut spending? Bullshit.

They need a government with sound fiscal policy that doesn't do shit - like the US government does - like giving banks trillions of dollars and pumping shitloads of money into endless wars.

[quakerboy]

13. Cutting services

that could cut costs.

Handing operation to a corporation, that does not cut costs(unless its by cutting services). The corp wouldn't want it unless they can make money on it. And if its a money maker, there is no reason to give it away.

The whole thing is ideological. It has nothing to do with budget

[24601]

5. Ran across our families NHS cards while filing old papers - getting

out from under that government-assigned doctor in Fenstanton (Cambridgeshire) - the "doctor" who didn't believe in treating fevers in infants & toddlers was one of our best days ever.

I'll pass on government-run civilian hospitals, thanks anyway.

[harmonicon]

8. So, did you pay to go to a private hospital?

That's an option in the UK. Anyone who wants to can go to a private medical practice or hospital if they want to pay for it. There is even private insurance for that shit. However, for those who can't pay, there is the NHS, and their doctors are just as good as any.

So, go ahead and pass on it if you want. I'll keep it for myself, and so will the tens of millions of others who would likely be without medical care if it weren't for them.

[blank space]

9. The guy has a doctor he didn't like,

and there fore the entire system is broken...my question to you is why respond to trolls ?

[harmonicon]

10. To point out to others that there is a very simple logical response. nt.

[24601]

11. We went outside NHS at that point. Some of the things they do well

like the (nurse) health visitor coning to your house for routine newborn checks. Some things a bit different - like after having a baby, you're welcome to a shower but of you prefer to dry off, better bring a towel. We found the non-MD staff better than the MDs. He was the only MD in our local office - Fenstanton was rather small in the early-mid 90s. To move NHS MD's meant driving to another city - all the way to St. Ives.

[harmonicon]

12. I've had almost entirely positive experiences.

There are 3 GPs at the health centre by my house. I've been to see two of them, and I think they're both fine. I haven't had to go to a hospital here, but a few years ago I had a girlfriend who needed emergency surgery - after a few hospital stays hoping the condition would improve - and the surgeons did a great job. Of course private hospitals offer more - I did a lot to make her stay better, like bringing pajamas and towels (as you reminded me) and buying her cards so she could watch TV. However, I don't even want to image what that all would have ended up costing in the US, even with insurance, which we wouldn't have been able to afford anyway.

I just now have my first work in almost a year, and the NHS has been incredible during this time. Just in prescription costs, it's saved me a lot of grief compared to what I would have to pay in other countries.

[quakerboy]

14. All the way to St Ives?

I can see why you would hesitate to take on a journey like that. That 4.1 miles seems quite prohibitive

[Nihil]

15. Yeah ...

> All the way to St Ives?
> I can see why you would hesitate to take on a journey like that.
> That 4.1 miles seems quite prohibitive

:rofl:

I also had to laugh at him calling St.Ives a city!

:hi:

[24601]

6. Self-delete - dupe. n/t

[Muskypundit]

3. A few people, are making a lot of money off this.

Because it would defy human nature and the combined history of the universe if this was not insanely corrupt.