THE Conservative Party’s dream of a totally privatised NHS draws ever nearer with Jeremy Hunt’s declared intent to allow Accountable Care Organisations (ACOs) to operate in England, as they already do in the USA, with little or no evidence of any improvement in quality of care or savings to health budget).
These organisations could be awarded multi-billion pound contracts for 10 to15 years. An absence of proposals to subject any of this to parliamentary scrutiny or public debate should set alarm bells ringing. It is not so much creeping privatisation via the back door as a headlong rush to it.
The dismal record of privatised care homes in the UK has been well-documented. What can one now expect from ACOs?Mercifully, this is not likely to happen in Scotland.
James Stevenson,
Drummond Avenue, Auchterarder.
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