STEWART Jackson MP, a senior Member of the Committee of Public Accounts and the Tory MP for Peterborough, yesterday indicted his own government stating: ‘The strategic management of health resources across the East of England Strategic Health Authority has failed. Ultimate responsibility for this rests with the Department of Health.
‘For many years to come, the local community, as well as the NHS and taxpayers, will have to live with the consequences of separate decisions to build a new PFI hospital at Peterborough and to award a franchise to a private company to run the nearby Hinchingbrooke Hospital.’
He added: ‘Circle Healthcare, the franchisee of Hinchingbrooke, has not achieved its expected savings in its first few months and its Chief Executive has already left. We are concerned that the bid was not properly risk-assessed and the successful bidder was encouraged to submit over-optimistic savings projections.
‘The PFI deal for Peterborough and Stamford PFI hospital has proved catastrophic, with the Department now being forced to pay out nearly £1 million a week of taxpayers’ money to keep the Trust afloat.
‘Both Trusts will have to make unprecedented levels of savings to become viable. In Peterborough and Stamford’s case, this won’t be enough. The future of both is in doubt, with unknown consequences for patients in the area and the taxpayer.’
He has indicted the madness of the drive to privatise the NHS and turn it into a goldmine for the bosses and bankers, that will now cost large numbers of NHS workers their jobs and see the hospitals closed if the madness is not stopped and the lunatics returned to the asylum.
At the same time, the FBU has revealed that: ‘All 46 fire and rescue services in England could be sold off to private firms under secret government plans.
‘Local government minister Brandon Lewis calls for new laws that “would enable fire and rescue authorities in England to contract out their full range of services to a suitable provider” in a letter obtained by the Mirror.’
The FBU quotes Labour MP John Healy as stating that: ‘This is a privatisation too far. Fire and rescue is an essential public service which we all depend on for our safety and our lives.
‘Firefighting is a no-go area for privatisation. The first and last concern of our fire services must be public protection not company profit.’
Fire Minister Brandon Lewis announced in December the £20million sale of the Fire Service College to the private sector, with Capita named as preferred bidder.
Matt Wrack, General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said last night: ‘This is staggering and outrageous.’
The madness of NHS and Fire Service privatisation is not only outrageous, it must be stopped, using all means that are necessary.
The example of the North East London Council of Action’s recent occupation of the closure-threatened Chase Farm Hospital must be followed.
The lesson from that occupation is that masses of people must be involved in the occupations and that they must be supported by mass strike actions leading to a general strike to bring down the coalition and bring in a workers’ government and socialism. We repeat – now is the time for decisive action, while we still have the NHS and the Fire Service to defend!
The trade unions must immediately organise the occupation of Fire Stations and hospitals that are threatened with closure and/or privatisation.
These occupations must be supported by mass strike actions leading to a general strike, that will replace this government of mad privateers with a workers’ government and socialism.
