Privatised by the back door
The good news is that the old Victorian buildings on the Manor Hospital site in Walsall are to be replaced with new ones. The bad news is the way in which the Government is going about it.
A private company will pay for the buildings and then run the hospital for at least 30 years (PFI) and charge the NHS a fortune for doing so. Cutting down on staff and beds and introducing new and novel charges to patients can be expected. As well as the closure of Goscote Hospital, Walsall, there are other worrying consequences of the go ahead for the much scaled down "new" Manor Hospital:
l A 33 per cent loss of beds at least and therefore a big reduction in front-line staff. In September 2005, when consultation on the closure of Goscote Hospital began, Walsall had a total of 775 beds at Goscote and the Manor. Under the new proposals there will be less than 513 beds at the "new" Manor! Why won't the Walsall Hospital Trust tell us exactly how many beds will be in the refurbished Manor Hospital? The figures might be even lower than the reduction to 513.
l More Walsall patients diverted to hospitals outside the borough with no children's operations to be done at the Manor Hospital.
l More elderly and frail patients having to cope at home with inadequate home services or forced into private nursing homes where their savings could be drained away to pay for it.
Other worrying scenarios will charges placed on patients and their families. I believe future patients can expect expensive pay-as-you-watch television, premium rate charges for using the telephone, charges for the use of one patient rooms being planned, increased charges for visitor and staff car parking and, yes, even charges to patients for laundry and meals.
This is the future under New Labour. We must oppose these moves towards what I believe is the hidden agenda, namely full privatisation of the NHS. The free NHS was the greatest legacy that past politicians have left to us. It is now being undermined big time and this will intensify if we sit back and let it happen.
Pete Smith, Secretary, Walsall Branch of Keep Our NHS Public, Harden Road, Leamore.
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