We are watching from our teaching assistant union, a local of the 
Canadian Union of Public Employees the privatisation in Britain. Our 
Ontario Premier and other provincial leaders are following Blair and 
his advisors as we suspect they are blue printing privatisation in 
Britain in Canada. Our union represents many public service workers and 
happens to represent me as a teaching assistant in statistics. Our 
local mental hospital which cares for me and my wife at times is being 
rebuild with tall new buildings by a private company in a Private 
Public deal. I try to avoid that place now as they are already using 
private company nurses and orderlies.


www.cupe.ca


Peter Timusk, B.Math, just trying to stay linear.
Read by hundreds of lurkers every week.

On Oct 12, 2005, at 3:46 AM, Macfarlane, Alison wrote:

> Forwarded message from Mark Ladbrooke, Oxfordshire Unison Health Branch
> For those of you who don't know, primary care trusts employ community 
> health staff and public health staff, including public health data 
> analysts.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Ladbrooke [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 11 October 2005 23:49
> To: 'Macfarlane, Alison'
>
> Today NHS staff are to lobby the Thames Valley Strategic Health 
> Authority
> Board to protest further privatisation.
>
> By December 2008 Primary Care Trusts around the country are scheduled 
> to end
> provision of primary care eg district nursing, health visiting and 
> community
> hospitals. A quarter million staff across the country will be affected.
>
> Who will provide the services?
>
> No one knows.
>
> The government suggests it might be private companies, charities, even 
> a
> cottage industry of workers co-ops competing against giant health care
> multinationals in the new health market.
>
> And on top of this something extra is being planned for Oxfordshire's
> proposed new PCT. If today's meeting of the Thames Valley Health 
> Authority
> votes it through then from April 2006 the PCTs senior staff will be 
> removed
> and will be replaced most likely by managers from a big corporation. 
> They
> will buy in services from the private sector, Foundation Trusts and 
> the NHS
> for the people of Oxfordshire at the same time as preparing to shed 
> those
> services provided by the PCT.
>
> And the view of the public regarding these latest 'reforms'? The
> announcement is buried in Board Paper 62-05 on page 9 "The SHA 
> proposes to
> procure the provision of management services to the Oxfordshire 
> PCT(s)". And
> its been made clear that while the size and configuration of other 
> Thames
> Valley PCTs is up for consultation Oxfordshire's privatised PCT isn't.
>
> Its believed that the Primary Care Trust INC (as it has been called by
> staff) might be put out to tender in the Official Journal of the 
> European
> Commission (OJEC) in late November and by April 06 may be up and 
> running
> with new staff. The Department of Health, its said, views Oxfordshire 
> as a
> pilot site and if successful would like to put all PCTs out to tender.
>
> And the reaction of staff? 'Shock and dismay' said UNISON PCT Convenor 
> Mark
> Ladbrooke adding "but we are going to be the 'guinea pig that roared'
> because this is a huge acceleration in the privatisation with the 
> private
> sector invited to control the process of buying in health services 
> from the
> private and public sector."
> "Today anti-privatisation petitions were drawn up by staff in our 
> community
> hospital and they are circulating different workplaces and despite the 
> short
> notice we hope to have a good turn out for the lobby of the Health
> Authority"
> He also reported that PCT union stewards are getting messages of 
> support
> from staff in NHS Trusts across Oxfordshire because they realise that 
> with
> privatised commissioning we would face a ferocious round of cuts next 
> year.
>
> Further information
>
> Mark Ladbrooke mob 07905958321 [log in to unmask]
> www.unisonoxonhealth.org.uk UNISON will be supporting the launch of 
> the KEEP
> our NHS Public campaign at a special conference see
> www.odtuc.org.uk/PFIALERT and www.keepournhspublic.com
>
> Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority www.tvha.nhs.uk Lobby of TVSHA
> board meeting 1.30 to 2pm Weds 12th Oct, Jubilee House, 5510 John Smith
> Drive, Oxford Business Park South, Cowley, Oxford, OX4 2LH. Tel: 01865
> 337000
>
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