IBM, the fiercely American computer firm, has become the latest company to boost private ADMIRER block membership of BUPA for its 15,000 British employees.
The deal is thought to be worth £800,000 a year to BUPA, the leading pay-for-your-health. outfit.
The private health organisations and those they enrich in the medical profession have made their glee at the Tories' reign, while National Health Service.
The government aims to: *Allow decisions about private hospital development to be taken at local level, with disputes referred to Services Secretary, Jenkin, a private medicine enthusiast.
*Encourage regional health authorities contracts with private firms for joint provision expensive equipment.
This would extend the leeching. principle whereby use NHS facilities for diagnosis and blood transfusion services.
*Halt the withdrawal of pay beds, with a probable increase in selected areas.
Two thousand pay beds have been phased-out so far, but many of these were not filv nsed. he remaining 2,500 beds are dear to the hearts of the health leeches.
Private health insurers provide Hounslow of major Ealing and in ALCU | ment's for £3.7m cut in health spending by conference on launch health shop tal, Ealing branch, Hounslow NUPE and the area i branch.
Rejecting any NHS cuts, the unions say that the proposed amount "would closure ILAL small hospitals, clinics, wards and other vital services.
They add: 'It would also involve redundancies, loss of jobs: and nace intolerable burden on I over-stretched staff.' When the AHA met the day after the statement was issued, it agreed to make immediate cuts of just £lm, and to consider further cuts in Carl Brecker, chaircent more than in 1971.
anti-union Certainly record taking added to its total last year, predicts that the covered by double in five years.
full-time contracts to no secret or plans to allow The Tories, entirely sympathetic.
Patrick jump the queue.
and area CulC into one example, and London says:
the amount private hospitals There is considerable hospitals to the private sector.' fortnight ago statement telling leaders who with their members. cover for roughly 2.4m people, 25 per organisations like BUPA look forward to a rosy future.
61,000 subscribers were and it number of those private will Not least among those anxious to cash in are medical consultants, who are now demanding that those on allowed to take on private patients.
needless to say, are Boom time for the health leeches is Dased on a simple equation. As the NHS waiting lists lengthen, providing increased custom to morticians, so those who are rich enough will pay to — a two-tier health Cause and effect interact. To take kerre ma National Heart and Chest Hospital in *There was regular restriction in of open heart surgery during 1978 because of shortage intensive care and/or operating staff.
evidence that there has been a loss of staff from our MUSTNE ROLANS SO dEC causing the private sector heart ache.
BUPA issued "doctrinal' union are against private medicine that they are out of touch The occasion for this posturing was the knife in the back to the NHS delivered by the right-wing leadership of the electricians' union, which is proposing a deal which will contract opposition to the Tories' • continues to grow.
After meeting The nearby National Heart and Chest Hospital has been forced to cut the number of its operations. 40,000 of its members to BUPA The response of the health unions NUPE and COHSE is to put through a resolution to be month's Trade calling on unions not to negotiate any agreements providing private medical facilities.
But so far the NUPE leadership has made no olans as to how it will implement ownl resolution to chuck out all pay beds remaining in the NHS on 1 January 1980.
The health unien already shown how prepared to comoromise over issue. went along The cothy's leading independent heat Services taken at next Union Congress, Day conference strangle leaders have far they are this the will achieve it. Labour government two years ago when it set up the impotent Health hoard, favoured by recent Royal Commission. handed over to wAS patients, it will beds finally be up to health union activists to sei the pace, and it will depend on the rest of the workers' movement both growth private medicine generally.
The action now being stepped up against the health cuts presents an opportunity to explain the need to axe the leeches, and begin to organise the boycotts of goods and services which care organatin and what it does for you
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addressed by the campaign INTENSIVE care unit at the private Wellington Hospitalin London, where suites cost £115-£180 a day.