Keeping our NHS public
On Friday morning I was at the Waldron Health Centre in New Cross for the launch of our policy for health and the NHS.
We invited members of Lewisham Pensioners' Forum and Deptford Action Group for the Elderly to join us, since both these groups share the Green Party's opposition to the way Labour has opened up the NHS, our most vital and cherished public service, to profit-seeking private companies.
Harry from Deptford Action Group, wearing his trademark DAGE baseball cap, is a familiar figure in Deptford and he got familiar with me pretty quickly: "Never mind holding up bloody signs, taking bloody photos - we need action!"
I couldn't agree more - as I said to Harry, (who did join us for a photo, like the good sport he is) the best way to get some action on the state of local health services is to vote Green, naturally!
Like DAGE and the LPF, I believe in the founding principles of the NHS: a universal health service, free at the point of use, that is publicly owned and run.
It's not that the NHS doesn't need to change, however. After a photocall outside the building, I was shown round the walk-in GP centre that has recently opened at the Waldron, and was impressed with the service they offer.
The manager, Stella Wifa, explained that anyone, whether or not they are registered as a patient, can turn up and ask to see a GP, without an appointment. The centre is open from 8am to 8pm, and being situated across the road from New Cross station, it's convenient for people who want to drop in on the way to or from work.
This kind of flexibility is clearly what people need, so it's good to see services offered which meet that need; what I find less convincing is the argument that only the private sector can deliver this kind of service.
The walk-in centre is run by Hurley Group, a GP-led company with several practices across south London, under contract to the NHS. A representative from Lewisham Primary Care Trust was quick to point out that the service provided by the group under this contract is rigorously monitored. I'm sure it is. But as I see it, that's exactly the problem - experienced health professionals are spending their time, and our money, on contract monitoring and assessment, on legal advisors and bureaucratic supervision, rather than on frontline services. One GP I've talked to reckons that NHS managers would have spent up to a year on the tendering process for the walk-in centre contract.
If medical professionals are spending their valuable time on admin, and NHS money is being spent on the managers and administrators needed to oversee contracts, I can't see how private-sector involvement in NHS services can be good for patients in the long run.
What we need in Lewisham, as in the UK as a whole, is an NHS that puts patients first - a truly public service, not a private business.
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