Backlash over Bradford hospital ‘privatisation’ plans

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has been accused of ‘backdoor privatisation’ by UNISON.

The union said that they are balloting Bradford hospital workers over the potential for industrial strike action. The Trust has allegedly announced that hospital staff will be outsourced to a separate company to cut costs.

The Bradford Trust has reportedly set up a wholly owned subsidiary, a private company which means they are not liable for VAT payments in the same way as NHS trusts. The new company will be owned by the Trust, but UNISON said this amounted to ‘backdoor privatisation’.

UNISON called this a ‘tax loophole’ and said that the transfer of employer will mean that any protections they have as NHS employees will be removed.

NHS trusts were ordered to pause plans to set up private companies in September 2018 after action was taken by the unions. In December 2018 new scrutiny and approval processes were put in place which stipulated that companies could only be set up where there was broad support, according to UNISON.

It says it is concerned that these measures lack “substance” and said that NHS Improvement has allowed the Bradford Trust to push ahead despite what it calls the “overwhelming” opposition of workers.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust have been contacted for comment.

UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said: “The staff who work for the NHS care about their jobs and it matters to them that they work for the health service. We all benefit from an NHS where everyone involved in delivering our care is part of the same team.

“Tax savings are not a good enough reason for the Trust to force people out of the NHS family and give up their cherished status as health service staff.

“Future leaders of the Trust will not feel bound by any guarantee over terms and conditions, so staff are right to feel wary of accepting anything other than a firm promise to keep them in direct employment.”

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