HOME | IMC UK | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

Liverpool Indymedia

Another corporate beast behind 'NHS Logistics' privatisation

anarchist communist | 09.10.2006 14:28 | Globalisation | Health | Social Struggles | Liverpool

Most people will have heard about the selling off of a massive area of the NHS to the private 'German' distributor, DHL, who this month are poised to takeover (from NHS Logistics) the warehousing and supply of thousands of items used by NHS hospitals and GP surgeries across the country. What is less widely mentioned in the press, perhaps as it's not as obvious in terms of effect on front-line public sector jobs, is that a massive US procurement operation Novation is also behind the new contract. Brought in to save money we are told, this Texan based company is under investigation by the US justice department for overcharging federal healthcare programmes for goods!

Novation - 'group purchaser' for health products
Novation - 'group purchaser' for health products


Procurement in modern capitalist-speak is about making purchasing as cheap as possible. This mostly means driving down producers to the lowest prices and dumping them when they can't go any lower. Like the supermarkets who go about fair-trade (a very tiny fraction of their goods), Novation will go on about 'quality' and 'safety' while getting supplies from wherever in the world they can, as long as its cheap. This is not to say that NHS Logistics weren't doing this already, but Novation has promised to purchase NHS supplies even more 'efficiently', and you don't get billons of pounds of savings (never mind the vast sums that they and DHL will make in profit) without cutting corners somewhere.

Working conditions of people involved in manufacturing or distribution will always be secondary. So this privatisation is an attack not just on NHS staff in Britain who will see their jobs go over to the under-unionised private sector, but on workers in countries like China who are doing the cheaper manufacturing. Many employees of suppliers in Britain may also be dumped when these companies go under at the whim of Novation. All these workers will suffer from this change in supply of medical goods - part of a much larger programme of public sector 'waste' reduction that will continue to blur the distinction between state-run and private services.

The initial response from healthworkers has been encouraging but commercialisation of NHS seems to be carrying on regardless of well-attended demonstrations & strikes (and pointless, it has to be said, lobbying of the Labour Party conference by the unions). It is clear that continued solidarity and direct action will be needed to protect working conditions in the future.

Links:
Wide U.S. Inquiry Into Purchasing for Health Care (21 Aug 2004):  http://www.nonprofithealthcare.org/documentView.asp?docID=83&sid=

Firm handed £4bn NHS contract was investigated for overcharging:  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8122-2292710,00.html

MediaLens forum‚ ‘STOP the privatisation of the NHS!’:  http://www.medialens.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7018

200 NHS Staff Walk Out In Runcorn:  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/09/351428.html

Unison NHS Logistics campaigning:  http://www.unison.org.uk/healthcare/NHSlogistics/

GMB union in DHL:  http://www.gmbindhl.unionweb.co.uk/

NHS Logistics:  http://www.logistics.nhs.uk/

Novation:  http://www.novationco.com/

anarchist communist

Comments

Display the following comment

  1. join the wobblies — Joni

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

[navigation.actions2016]

[navigation.actions2015]

[navigation.actions2014]

NATO 2014

Actions 2013

G8 2013

Actions 2012

Workfare

Actions 2011

2011 Census Resistance
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Occupy Everywhere

Actions 2010

Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands

Actions 2009

COP15 Climate Summit 2009
G20 London Summit
Guantánamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
University Occupations for Gaza

Actions 2008

2008 Days Of Action For Autonomous Spaces
Campaign against Carmel-Agrexco
Climate Camp 2008
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Smash EDO
Stop Sequani Animal Testing
Stop the BNP's Red White and Blue festival

Actions 2007

Climate Camp 2007
DSEi 2007
G8 Germany 2007
Mayday 2007
No Border Camp 2007

Actions 2006

April 2006 No Borders Days of Action
Art and Activism Caravan 2006
Climate Camp 2006
Faslane
French CPE uprising 2006
G8 Russia 2006
Lebanon War 2006
March 18 Anti War Protest
Mayday 2006
Oaxaca Uprising
Refugee Week 2006
Rossport Solidarity
SOCPA
Transnational Day of Action Against Migration Controls
WSF 2006

Actions 2005

DSEi 2005
G8 2005
WTO Hong Kong 2005

Actions 2004

European Social Forum
FBI Server Seizure
May Day 2004
Venezuela

Actions 2003

Bush 2003
DSEi 2003
Evian G8
May Day 2003
No War F15
Saloniki Prisoner Support
Thessaloniki EU
WSIS 2003

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech

Publish Your News


Temporary Scroogle search

-->