Today’s Westminster Hall debate on the privatisation of NHS services gave me an opportunity to set out my views on our much loved National Health Service. First of all, this debate was not about charging people to use the service, I absolutely believe that the NHS should always be free at the point of use. The debate did centre around whether the services should be provided by the public sector or by private businesses, such as Virgin or Ramsay Healthcare. It is clear to me that patients must come first and health care should be free at the point of delivery. But it is not free. It is paid for by you and I through our taxes and the cost to the taxpayer must be taken into account. Therefore it should not be a case of the private sector versus the public sector, but of the efficiency and effectiveness of delivery and we should take a pragmatic approach to this.
A report by the World Health Organisation emphasised the value of competition, the incentive structures of private organisations who provide good performance, while recognising the need for a public role in resource allocation. That, to me, says everything about how we should manage our health system.
The reason that the NHS is under pressure is not because private sector companies are involved but because of hugely increased demand. There is more money going into the NHS than ever. However, this brings me to my second point, which is that funding needs to be fair. We need to look at whether the funding for certain CCGs including those in York and North Yorkshire is fair and ensure that the funding is right wherever we live. Postcode lottery in the NHS is wrong.
We all love the NHS and have the greatest respect for the 1.5 million people who work incredibly hard to help the one million patients treated in England every 36 hours. It comes as no surprise to me that the Commonwealth Fund report describes the NHS as the most efficient healthcare system in the world.
You can find my full speech here: https://goo.gl/Wk1Qm4