UNISON launched a last-ditch attempt today (September 3) to stop what it described as the “biggest NHS sell off”.
Regional leaders and union members gathered at the monthly meeting of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) at the meeting rooms at Hinchingbrooke Country Park, asking them to put a stop to the outsourcing of the county’s services for older people and adults.
The CCG closed the bidding process for the £1billion contract on July 29 and is set to announce which providers will go through to the next stage of the process later this week.
Phil Green, regional organiser for Unison, said: “Cambridgeshire NHS patients and staff are set to be used as guinea pigs in a bizarre experiment in privatisation. The whole proposal is a colossal gamble – services are better delivered when there is no profit motive involved.”
Dr Arnold Fertig, GP lead for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG Older People’s Programme, said: “The CCG is led by GPs who look after many thousands of older people, and we have been looking at how doctors, nurses and other professionals can be supported to improve services for older people by working better together.”
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