Hinchingbrooke privatisation - I’m none the wiser after meeting
I RETURNED feeling very frustrated from the public meeting held in St Ives about the privatisation of Hinchingbrooke Hospital.
I RETURNED feeling very frustrated from the public meeting held in St Ives about the privatisation of Hinchingbrooke Hospital.
We were told by Andrew McPherson that we will still have NHS over the door of the hospital, the same excellent services (or even better), the staff will still be NHS staff and so will the buildings.
The franchisee will manage the hospital, and pay back the debt with innovation and efficiency and provide high quality health care for the tax payer.
Of course many questions were asked, one of the main ones being how can the franchisee do all those things well, with no changes that we will notice, pay back the �40-plus million and make a profit for themselves and their share holders?
No-one seemed to know. Mr McPherson told us that the company would face the challenge with innovation: they would be faster and sharper with their ideas.
David Monks suggested that sometimes companies were prepared to make a loss to set against their tax bills: we had to think differently, wider. This was the business world. He went on a bit about supermarkets and loss-leaders. It didn’t seem to make any sense to me and have much to do with the management of our respected hospital.
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It was a good meeting: all the people took part and lots of questions were asked. Unfortunately, it was hard to make sense of many of the answers – lots of jargon and political phrases were spoken, but no clear or new information was given.
It is very disappointing and frustrating to leave such an important meeting about our NHS hospital feeling that I know nothing more about what these two companies are proposing to do that will affect me, my family and community for years to come.
ANNIE SLY
Constable Road
St Ives
