Apr 27, 2016 18:14
In 2005 that HUNT co-authored a book entitled ‘Direct Democracy’. It said that the NHS "fails to meet public expectations" and is "no longer relevant in the 21st century”. It called for the NHS to be replaced by a new system of health provision in which people would pay money into personal health accounts, which they could then use to shop around for care from public and private providers. Similar to the USA.
On 11th. March 2015 just before the General election when all the polls suggested that the Tories would lose, the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt signed one of the biggest privatisation contracts in the history of the NHS worth £780m. He wanted to ensure that these were in place before the election.
The sales to a total of 11 private firms, some with dubious records, are intended to help hospitals tackle the backlog of patients waiting for surgery and tests. The companies involved are:-
• Circle Health Ltd [large donors to the Tory Party. Recently pulled out of the contract to run the NHS Hinchingbrooke Hospital due to repeated failure to meet standards]
• Alliance Medical Ltd [also in January 2015 awarded a 10-year contract to run scans across Cheshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Liverpool, and Lancashire despite the fact that the NHS Trust that runs Royal Stoke University Hospital in Staffordshire put together a consortium with other NHS hospitals to enter what they called a “competitive bid”].
• Care UK Clinical Services Ltd [large donors to the Tory Party. Had NHS contracts on 2 care homes suspended due to poor standard.]
• Vanguard Healthcare Solutions [recently sacked by Musgrove Park Hospital in Somerset for incompetence in performing eye surgery. Is facing legal action]
Colbalt Unit Appeal Fund
Diagnostic World Ltd
Inhealth Ltd
Medical Imaging Partnership Ltd
Nuffield Health
Ramsay Health Care UK
Regents Park Cardiovascular Solutions
JEREMY HUNT TRACK RECORD
In 2009, Hunt had to repay £9,500 of taxpayers’ cash in claims for his second home expenses.
In 2010, Hunt gave a civil service job to the daughter of a friend, a Conservative Lord who’d been the director of one of Hunt’s companies.
In 2010, as Sports Minister Hunt blamed ‘hooligans’ for the 1989 Hillsborough disaster in which 96 Liverpool fans died, a third of them children or teenagers.
In 2010, Hunt was caught hiding behind a tree trying to avoid being spotted going into a private dinner with the Murdoch’s.
In 2012, Hunt and his advisors were caught leaking sensitive information to Rupert Murdoch’s office when Hunt was supposed to be handling the company’s bid to take over BSkyB.
In 2012, Hunt was caught dodging more than £100,000 in tax in a property deal.
In 2012, Hunt was in charge of the Olympics security fiasco, in which he paid millions of taxpayers’ money to private company G4S who were so incompetent the army and police had to step in.
In 2013, the British Medical Association said Hunt displayed “complete ignorance” after saying he thought the abortion limit should be changed to 12 weeks.
In 2013, Hunt used £4,000 of taxpayers’ money to pay for language lessons so he could learn his Chinese lover’s language.