News / Health
Privitisation warning over children’s service
Labour councillors have warned against appointing a private operator to take control of children’s services in Bristol
Concerns were raised last month over the possibility that mental health services could fall into the hands of Virgin Care.
Now Labour say that health services for the city’s most vulnerable children should not be run by private companies whose main aim is to make a profit, as they are less accountable and some would be tempted to cut costs.
“Elsewhere we hear that private companies winning health care contracts provide a poorer service” said Brislington West councillor Eileen Means.
“They downgrade staff, revise pension arrangements and it’s hard to escape the conclusion that profit, and not patient care, is the priority for these companies.”
“Often these employment practises cause the best qualified staff to leave and this has an impact on the quality of care.”
The North Bristol NHS Trust will not be renewing their contract to provide Children’s Community Health Partnership (CCHP) services in Bristol from March 2016.
NHS contracts are open to the voluntary and private sectors, with commissioning through competitive tendering, and the local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group is considering awarding these services to the private provider Virgin.
The other shortlisted provider is the partnership between two not-for-profit social enterprises, Sirona Care and Health CIC and Bristol Community Health CIC, and Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership (AWP) NHS Trust.
The campaign group Protect CCHP launched a 38 Degrees petition in response, with many local people protesting the potential privatisation, including service users and doctors.
Award-winning Bristol author and former mental health nurse Nathan Filer has also spoken out against the move.
Many people are particularly worried that a private company would not be able to provide integrated services and that the quality of care for children and young people would suffer as a result.
Labour say that their councillors will be pressing NHS England to insist that the local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group will only shortlist providers that can ensure integration of services when it issues the contract for Riverside Adolescent Unit in Fishponds.
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