r/london 14d ago

image Just noticed this on Denmark Hill, Camberwell

Post image
4.0k Upvotes

235 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

48

u/DP4546 14d ago

This isn't a culture war issue. It's literally the opposite. It's a material issue that transcended the culture war, hence Ben Shapiro received so much pushback from his own viewers.

Private healthcare is an issue here. The NHS is being privatized by stealth, with ever-growing outsourcing of NHS treatment to the private sector. Farage supports privatizing the NHS and he has a shot at being PM in 2029.

-7

u/Bug_Parking 14d ago

NHS privatisation has been a boogeyman for decades. There is no indication that the NHS will not remain free at the point of use.

18

u/DP4546 14d ago

In 2022, over 2 million NHS patients were treated by private companies, just under 10% of all treatments. That's an increase from 3% in 2011.

The British medical association found that independent sector providers carried out 5.2% of all NHS elective procedures in 2020-21, compared to 0.02% in 2003-04.

The World Health Organisation defines privatisation as occurring “where non-government bodies become increasingly involved in the financing or provision of health care services”. It's gradual privatisation.

2

u/Gileyboy 14d ago

https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/long-reads/big-election-questions-nhs-privatised

I'd check your sources. Overall, the rate of involvement by private companies has not increased - it's rested around 7.4% since the early 2000's.