NHS has been 'put up for sale' !

Labour accuses Government over possible sell-off district general hospital. 

The NHS has been “put up for sale” by the Coalition government, Labour have claimed, as it emerged that the Department of Health has approved the possible sell-off a district general hospital.

Board papers published by the NHS Development Authority (NDTA) show that the George Eliot Hospital in Warwickshire could be acquired by another NHS trust or “a franchise that may be a non-NHS organisation”.

If the hospital were acquired by a private company it would become the second in two years, after the Hinchingbrooke Health Care Trust was taken over by Circle Health in February last year. The Health Service Journal reported that the Department of Health had been willing to see the trust begin a process that could lead to franchising, but was awaiting approval from the Treasury, which has now been granted. Andy Burnham, Labour's shadow health secretary said that the decision represented “privatisation driven from the top”.

“Everywhere you look, chunks of the NHS are being broken up and handed to the private sector. With this announcement, it is now proceeding at a pace and scale never seen before,” he said.

More here.