28th March 2022

NHS Bill: a threat to universal care
Read an NHS campaigner’s analysis of the government’s Bill. “The fact that the government are trying to push this legislation through under the radar speaks volumes about their prediction of criticism, and should ring alarm bells with all who care about the future of the NHS as a fully comprehensive and public service.”

The Lords showed no opposition
The NHS Bill has now completed its Lords stage, where significant amendments could have been made. But of the 477 amendments put down only 14 minor changes were made. The “Corproate Takeover Bill” sends our NHS on to the sunny uplands of the free-market promised land.

NHS to cut ‘core funding’ by £500 million
The government has asked NHS England to reduce core NHS funding by hundreds of millions of pounds in 2022-23.

More government scandal over PPE contracts
Firstly Hancock failed to notify his officials about private messages he exchanged with disgraced Conservative MP Owen Paterson, who operated as a healthcare firm’s paid lobbyist. Now it’s revealed that Michael Gove secretly emailed a PPE company linked to the Tory peer Michelle Mone to secure huge government contracts.

NHS CEOs appointed with no healthcare experience
There’s a paywall here but it says that NHS England and the Care Quality Commission have appointed chairs who had careers in the City, while the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has appointed a CEO with a background in, you guessed it, insurance. We are also thrown a CEO to NHS Business Services Authority who had a career in banking.