A member of the public walks past a NHS love heart sign in Glasgow
PUBLIC-OWNERSHIP campaigners handed in a 300,000-strong petition to the House of Lords today calling for peers to protect the NHS from any future trade deals.
The call came as peers discussed an amendment to the Trade Bill that seeks to protect NHS services from such deals, including with the United States.
Campaigners warn that future trade deals could see international private healthcare companies being granted more opportunities to supply services and that such privatisation could be “locked in,” making it increasingly difficult for the government to reverse.
Politicians who continue to welcome contracts with US companies without considering the risks and consequences of total dependency in the years to come are undermining the raison d’etre of the NHS, argues Dr JOHN PUNTIS
