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Ballots say no to NHS white paper

Hospital and community ballots all over the country have been decisively rejecting the government’s plans for the NHS, according to the joint NHS Privatisation Research Unit.

The unit has been gathering the results of locally-organised ballots on whether NHS hospitals should ‘opt out’ and become self-governing trusts.

’Every one of the ballots has shown massive opposition to opting out’, said George McGregor, who has co-ordinated the collection of results. ‘None of the community or hospital-staff ballots has shown anything less than 68% against the government’s proposals, and in most cases the opposition has been over 90%.

Many of the staff polls have been organised locally by health trade unions, with NUPE, NALGO, and COHSE taking the lead. Polls of consultants have been carried out by the Royal Colleges and the British Medical Association. In some areas, local authorities, community health councils and Labour Party branches have run community ballots— but the unit has not heard of any that have been organised by health authorities or hospital managers.

Mr McGregor said that the ballot organised by Redditch borough council in the Midlands was a ‘model example’ of what could be done. ‘The council delivered ballot papers to every household in the town, and sent canvassers door-to-door to encourage people to respond. Of the 31,341 who voted only 17% thought that the local Alexandra Hospital should opt out’. More recently, Manchester city council has agreed to fund central Manchester CHC to run a similar door-to-door ballot on whether hospitals in its vicinity should opt out.

Though the NHS white paper supports the aim of ‘delegation of responsibility to local level’, and lists as a major objective ‘rewards for NHS staff who successfully respond to local needs and preferences’, the Department of Health has stated firmly that local ballots will form no part of the opting out process.

’The government thinks ballots are a waste of time,’ said Mr McGregor. ‘But these results must be having an impact.’

At Nottingham University Hospital, in Health Secretary Kenneth Clarke’s own constituency, the result of a recent ballot showed that 97% of the 1,425 staff who voted opposed the hospital opting out.

The joint NHS Privatisation Unit would like to hear from any group that has organised a local ballot. The Unit can be contacted at Civic House, 20 Grand Depot St, London SE18 6SF. Tel. 01 854 2244.