NHS England: Give us transparency

Private companies are helping to decide the future of the NHS.

It’s come to light that a lobbying outfit working for some of the biggest drug companies was paid by NHS England to write an important report. It’s claimed that this report could help shape £12bn (!) of NHS spending over the next five years.

The NHS is owned by all of us. But NHS England – the body that runs the NHS here – doesn’t have to publish conflicts of interest like this, or details of the lobbyists they meet with. We may never have even found out this was going on.

If enough of us kick up a stink, we could force NHS England to come clean about who’s deciding the future of our NHS. Let’s show them that the taxpayers who fund them expect them to be transparent about who’s advising them, especially when these people might profit from the decisions.

Private companies getting involved in NHS decision-making is exactly what we all feared would happen when the government passed the Health and Social Care Act. As well as providing local services, private companies are now being ushered in at the top of the NHS.

There’s no reason why NHS England can’t publish potential conflicts of interest or meetings with lobbying firms. Government departments regularly do this.

NHS England is less than a year old. They’re not used to being on the receiving end of a big people-powered petition. Thousands and thousands of names on a petition, delivered to their offices, could embarrass them into coming clean about who’s influencing them.

38 Degrees members have voted time and time again to ensure that protecting our NHS is at the core of what we do. It’s moments like this where we can come together and take action. Let’s fight to protect our NHS from the vultures that are circling around it – or at least, to find out which vultures are circling.

Click here to join thousands of other 38 Degrees members in demanding that NHS England come clean about the revolving door between big business and the NHS.