The NHS in Scotland is ruled by events in England
With budgets tight and borrowing strictly limited it difficult, probably impossible, for the Scottish government to make up any large budget shortfall and the passing of the Westminster, Health and Social Care Bill which provided for the wholesale privatisation of the NHS in England will have very significant effects on Scotland.
Increasingly private healthcare companies financing an controlling the English NHS will result in less public money being spent on it.
Reducing the NHS financial burden will release finance to be used to further reduce the tax ‘burden’ on high earners.
Reducing state money expenditure in England also reduces Barnett formula finance for Scotland – possibly to the point where NHS privatisation becomes the only option.
The Tory government, which is no supporter of devolution and which is working to undermine it wherever possible, is more than happy to see these events unravel.
It needs to be remembered that Westminster retains overall control and won’t hesitate to overrule Holyrood to get what it wants, especially if opening up Scotland’s health services to American healthcare companies assists the process of completing trade deals with the USA.
And what might a privatised Scottish health service in the hands of American healthcare corporations offer? Frightening charges out with the reach of most people judging by this infographic from International Insurance.com
But even if you can afford insurance that doesn’t guarantee your medical bills will be covered.
In this Double Down News video Dr Bob Gill, NHS doctor and filmmaker, gives his views. Prepare to be shocked.
The American healthcare system is ‘totally dysfunctional, endemically fraudulent and hugely expensive” and the UK government is determined to copy it.
Full article:
“https://newsnet.scot/news-analysis/scotlands-nhs-in-imminent-danger”
The Scottish government issued a press release stating that healthcare provision in Scotland will not be subject to profiteering by large private healthcare contractors.
Nov 2021: SNP to pay millions in private health amid fears of “NHS privatisation by stealth”
The SNP government has been accused of putting the public ownership of NHS Scotland at risk by paying millions out to private hospitals in an effort to solve the health crisis it created.
Leaked documents have shown that the SNP plans to pay private health firms up to £150million, bringing into question the commitment to keeping the NHS public.
The Scottish Government’s fund for private health firms has sparked concern that the NHS is at risk of being privatised “by stealth”.
The money is to be spent on the enormous backlog of operations and cancer treatment that are the result of “years of SNP mismanagement and cuts”.
28 Nov 2021: Scots NHS for sale: Firms invited to bid for over 1,500 Scots medical procedures
Private health care hospitals and firms are being invited to bid for the provision of vital medical care including lifesaving surgery normally carried out by the NHS in Scotland, the Herald on Sunday can reveal.
Scottish Government quango NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) has been sanctioned to create a dynamic purchasing system (DPS) for private firms to provide surgery and other medical care across the health care spectrum, raising serious concerns about how safe the NHS is in the hands of the Scottish ministers.
Full article:
caltonjock 