PRIVATE COMPANIES AND THE NHS

<p>That this House is aware that among those bidding to take over the organisation and purchasing of local NHS care services in the UK are a number of large, foreign private companies that have records of maximising their profits at the expense of patient care; and believes the encouragement of such firms to take over the running of UK health services to be both short-sighted and wrong as, if allowed, their pursuit of profit will hugely increase NHS costs, as has already been experienced via the provision of private health care within the service and the building of new NHS hospitals, and worse still would cause care standards to fall as their business practices avoid patients costs, especially those with complex health needs.</p>