DO DEMOCRATS STILL WANT A BRITISH HEALTH SYSTEM?:

Stealth plan to 'privatise' NHS care (Sam Lister, 6/30/06, Times of London)

THE world’s biggest private health companies are being invited to bid for the chance to spend substantial chunks of the £80 billion NHS budget.

A six-page “contract notice” placed by the Department of Health in the supplement to the Official Journal of European Union, and seen by The Times, encourages the private sector to apply for a wide range of roles in the control and running of primary care trusts (PCTs).

The trusts are responsible for about 80 per cent of the annual £80 billion NHS budget. They not only fund GP surgeries but also commission hospital operations and have a large say over which drugs patients in their area can receive.

Critics said that the move was like “putting the NHS up for sale”, while some also said it signalled the end of PCTs’ role as providers of clinical services.