NHS prey to American Private health Companies?

[joytree]

The EU is negotiating a trade treaty with the United States [TTIP] that would leave the NHS prey to American Private Health Companies and their shareholders. It would make Privatisation permanent .

The National Health Action Party is making it a top priority to exempt the NHS from this TTIP Trade Agreement being negotiated between the EU and the US.

Please ask your MP what this Trade Agreement will mean for the NHS.

Go to www.nhap.org for more information.

National Health Action Party members will be outside Kings College Hospital May 9 @ 16:30 - 17:30 campaigning for the European Elections and would like to meet you .

[ianr]

A few minutes scanning the top-level categories on the website and I failed to find anything obviously briefing or informing on your topic, so had to resort to a search http://nhap.org/?s=TTIP, to find several disparate articles. This one http://nhap.org/dont-let-ttip-deliver-fatal-blow-nhs/, with lots of pointers to material elsewhere, looks probably as good a starting point as any for anyone who wants to try to educate themselves.

[Loz]

Do you want to summarise the points then? All I can glean from that rather unfocussed article is that it might open the NHS up to potential competition.

[joytree]

Hi The Attachment summarises the concern by supporters of the NHS about the threat of privatisation.

Please see The Youtube links explains why a NHS Cancer Specialist Clive Peedell and a GP LOUISE Irvine are standing in the European Elections to try and stop more Privatisation of the NHS.

link to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmelbhh-YZM.

[Loz]

Hang on, you are getting two issues conflated. I want to know the details of why you think the "NHS is prey to American Private Health Companies and their shareholders". All you've done is sent me a pamphlet claiming roughly the same thing without any details.

[ianr]

I'm very grateful for your alerting me to TTIP and ISDS (which seems not to be a new thing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investor-state_dispute_settlement). I'll keep an eye on the protracted Philip Morris v. Australia arbitration that your party website mentions. It's documented here: http://www.ag.gov.au/internationalrelations/internationallaw/pages/tobaccoplainpackaging.aspx http://www.pca-cpa.org/showpage.asp?pag_id=1494. I'm glad to see that the previous challenges, on grounds of constitutionality, seem to have failed, though I don't know whether that's to be taken as reason for optimism.

Do you have any examples of damage already done as the result of ISDS arbitration? The EU commisioner, as quoted in the final paragraph of the Wikipedia article, would have us believe that any future trade agreement will "fully enshrine democratic prerogatives" and will explicitly state that legitimate government public policy decisions cannot be overridden.

On TTIP, see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_Trade_and_Investment_Partnership, which has an appearance of balance.

[NomDePlume]

The biggest threat to our beloved NHS is the Tory party and their shareholding buddies, 1st is to highlight a nicely profitable part, 2nd, then besmirch it's reputation with how badly its ran, how bad the issues are, the staff, the whatever, trump up a reason to put it out to tender. Then forewarn your rich buddies that it will be going public and shares are in the pipeline, earmark a large portion to those in the know, then announce it the hedge funds and other entrepreneurs. Finally go public offer it below market prices and another of our the public's assets go into private ownership!

I'll use The Post Office as an example

[uncleglen]

Beloved NHS NDP -don't make me laugh- it has been misused and abused relentlessly by the general population for decades!

[El Pibe]

yeah bludgers, if it wasn't for fecking people and there 'sickness' and 'accidents' it would be the most efficient health provider on earth!!

 

[Jeremy]

I'm struggling to see why people hold the NHS in such affection. I'm not saying it's bad, but there are other countries in W Europe with better health care.

[Loz]

I have a friend that did his ACL skiing in Austria and went through the Austrian public system. In the UK, he'd have had the op fairly quickly, but would have waited up to six months for the necessary physio. In Austria, in hospital on Friday, Op on Monday (it would have been Saturday but there was an issue with his white blood cells), physio started on Thursday.

The NHS is good but, as the Yanks say, it ain't all that.

[Jeremy]

I've just had a week long stay in an Italian hospital. Excellent ambulance crew, fresh clean wards with only four beds, lots of nurses per patient. The French health service is also excellent. Again... not saying the NHS is bad but neither is it a perfect model.

[uncleglen]

People are being offered 'upgrades' in hospitals for ?135 a night under certain circumstances- anyone had experience of this?

[Loz]

Is that like a 'happy ending'?

[????]

Jeremy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm struggling to see why people hold the NHS in

> such affection. I'm not saying it's bad, but there

> are other countries in W Europe with better health

> care.

sacred cow