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‘Power to the people’, says hospital boss
THE chief executive of University College London Hospital has told the West End Extra how he turned down jobs in private companies because he does not want to leave the NHS.
And Sir Robert Naylor made clear his opposition to a private firm running a new polyclinic at the Bloomsbury hospital.
A supersized unit, which could swamp GP surgeries in the area, is thought likely to interest a private company, although enthusiasm may have cooled as the credit crunch bites. Virgin has already been approached by Camden Primary Care Trust but talks have stalled.
Sir Robert said on Friday he thought the new polyclinic should be run by UCLH.
“I personally agree with the philosophical concerns about the private sector,” he said. “I have had job offers from companies but I’ve turned them down because I want to be in the NHS.”
He suggested campaigners who have been pressing to keep private companies out of the deal should not give up.
Sir Robert added: “I don’t believe in primary healthcare being run by the private sector. I do not believe we are here to fill the pockets of shareholders.
“The public must be able to say whether they support the polyclinic and, if they do, whether it is run by a private company.”
Camden Primary Care Trust has the final say on who operates the polyclinic, but services director Mark Atkinson told a board meeting last month it would not consult patients specifically on whether a service being put out for tender should be provided by a private firm or not. |
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