The Private Sector Will Destroy the NHS, Not Save It
Some in the Labour Party support using the private sector to bring down NHS waiting lists. But private health care is about putting profit over helping patients — not saving a public health system.
Under a 2020 deal with the National Health Service, the UK’s private sector cared for just 0.08 percent of COVID-19 patients. (Piron Guillaume / Unsplash)
While the invisible hand protects the private sector, the invisible foot kicks the public sector to pieces. Nowhere is this more evident than the encroachment of private health care into the National Health Service (NHS).
In normal times, the relationship between the private health care sector and the NHS is a parasitical one: the private sector cherry-picks the straightforward, uncomplicated cases, and the NHS pays out billions of pounds. But, as in so many other ways, the pandemic changed everything, and now more and more are claiming that private health care is going to be our savior. Falling for this argument could be a costly error — and in more than just financial terms.
This week saw the announcement of new three-month arrangement struck between private health care providers and the NHS by health secretary Sajid Javid. The deal forms a collaborative partnership, nominally intended to increase NHS capacity.
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