Colin Leys is emeritus professor of political studies at Queen’s University Canada, honorary research professor at Goldsmiths and works with CHPI. His most recent publication is 'Searching for Sociali
Colin Leys reviews a crisply delivered overview by Richard Horton, and finds the Lancet editor's criticisms of the government and health establishment's response hit the right spots.
It looks as though ministers are bullying supposedly the independent patient data agency to hand over private information to the Home Office despite an uncertain legal basis.
Local NHS areas have til June to try and submit convincing plans to dramatically improve healthcare whilst saving large sums of cash. But the decision making is secretive and dysfunctional.
Standing at some ill-defined midpoint between three neoliberal parties is now deemed, by the BBC and others, to represent some sort of "impartiality". Though impartial in Westminster terms it is clearly not in public terms. The NHS paid a heavy price.
In opposition George Osborne criticised the 'endemic culture of secrecy in some private hospitals'. But after 4 years in government, the secrecy persists, even as the NHS itself is opened up to ever more scrutiny.
Aside from whether patients welcome the cash payments there are wider issues that need addressing, namely whether the scheme strips cash from the NHS and so weakens the service for others; will it be a subsidy for private care; and who steps in if the money is spent before the year is up?
The failures uncovered by the Francis report go far beyond the compassion of individual nurses and managers, they are a clear warning sign on the dangers of turning a public health service into a competitive market. The British public can see it, why can't the government?
For the UK's senior civil service, 'public interest' is increasingly defined in terms of the private sector's agenda. With high-profile figures moving to private directorship roles and policy making being tailored to corporate interest, the days of a bureaucratic public career are over.
Under advanced capitalism, commodification expands into all corners of social and political life, with devastating consequences. Finding a limit to this process is more urgent than ever.
The author of 'The Plot Against the NHS' discusses the political struggle over England's national health service and considers what those determined to save it can still do.
The majority of British voters want to keep the NHS public. The Prime Minister was elected on the promise of no major health reform. So why is parliament backing the Health and Social Care Bill, against the known wishes of the electorate?
