UK conservatives are wasting no time - looking to privatize the NHS

[Lars77]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/11/andrew-lansley-nhs-private-sector-circle

The government's decision to sign a 10-year contract worth £1bn for an untested private company to manage the heavily indebted Hinchingbrooke hospital really is the triumph of hype over experience.

The hype has come thick and fast from Circle Healthcare's smooth-talking boss, former Goldman Sachs banker Ali Parsadoust (known as Ali Parsa), who gives the impression that Circle is some kind of altruistic workers' co-operative, while in fact it is controlled by private equity and hedge funds. Far from handing control to the workers, Circle takes a negative view of trade unions and will have to resort to old-fashioned cuts in the workforce if it is to generate the "efficiency savings" it needs to put the hospital into surplus.

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