Austerity, Privatisation and Health Inequality

Evidence from the Chief Medical Officer in Northern Ireland and the TASC Report 2011 indicate that working class people in both jurisdictions are suffering disproportionately from austerity measures. The ultimate inequality is lower life expectancy and premature death. In particular, there has been a disturbing increase in the number of patients from the National Health Service being sent across the border to private hospitals, paid for from the public purse while waiting lists continue to grow in both jurisdictions. There is also robust evidence that the NHS in Northern Ireland has increased its private patient income by approximately 10% while pleading lack of resources as a reason for sending NHS patients to private providers, and in the absence of additional resources, displacing existing NHS patients in terms of waiting lists and waiting time targets. We believe that publicly funded, universally available healthcare systems, which co-operate to eliminate health inequalities, are key to creating a fair and equal society on this island. In response this, Congress pledges: to oppose outsourcing at all levels by all means available to this movement as damaging to healthcare, compassion and members. The increasing privatisation and outsourcing of treatment and services has been shown by the Nuffield Trust to reduce the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare; to challenge both Governments on the growing privatisation of medicine and social care; to require both Governments to develop genuine public health systems with specific targets for the removal of health inequalities in both jurisdictions; to require both Government to replace those elements of the current health and social care delivery systems which are dysfunctional and unaccountable with joined up systems designed to make a genuine improvement in the health outcomes of the people; and for the trade union movement to take the lead at local community level in a campaign to highlight the attack on our services and the people'shealth and the need to replace austerity with social solidarity.