PUBLIC ownership campaigners We Own It have released a petition urging the government to invest in the NHS and cease outsourcing to private hospitals.

The petition was announced after the BBC Panorama programme investigated Spire Healthcare, a chain that runs 39 private hospitals across Britain, which is used to clear NHS waiting lists.

Safety issues were raised with hospitals performing surgeries despite lacking intensive care facilities, requiring patients to be transferred if their condition deteriorates. 

Several deaths were reported by coroners following delayed transfers.

Johnbosco Nwogbo, lead campaigner at We Own It, said the hospitals put patients “further in harm’s way” and “siphons out NHS money into private healthcare pockets.”

He added that private hospitals “cherry-pick the simplest, elective cases because they are the most profitable,” creating a two-tier system that disadvantages those with the worst conditions. 

He said it undermines the NHS by leaving it with less money to treat the most serious patients.

The petition calls on Health Secretary Victoria Atkins and her opposition counterpart Wes Streeting to tackle waiting lists by investing in the NHS and paying staff fairly to retain the workforce.

Access it here: https://tinyurl.com/3hf5wx6p.