Your article (Johnson to announce controversial plans for greater NHS control, 4 July) outlined the proposals for increased control by ministers, as set out in the health and care bill. It was also correct to draw attention to the dangers of cronyism, where the bill gives the go-ahead to outsource any, and all, services to a list of approved private healthcare providers.
However, much less attention has been paid to the more serious threat: the dismantling of one coherent NHS, to be replaced by 42 regional services. These will have no local democratic input but will be run by self-selected boards, which will not only consist of health-service managers but of representatives from the private healthcare sector.
US healthcare companies such as Centene and Optum are already intervening in the UK, buying up GP practices and being handed huge contracts. The complete dismantling of a national health service, and the invitation to private health companies to sit on the boards and determine policy, is the final stage in a long-term strategy to parcel up and sell off the NHS.
Ruth Knox
Liverpool
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