The Tory health team are getting into ever deeper water over their links with private health, aren’t they?

First, it was hapless Hannan and his comments that the NHS was a 60-year mistake.

Next came another Euro MP, who said that he wouldn’t recommend the NHS.

Swiftly following these pronouncements, came the revelation that a sizable chunk of the Tory shadow cabinet were connected with right-wing politicians who condemned the NHS as part of the spiteful campaign again healthcare reforms in the USA.

Now, The Times newspaper has revealed, three of the shadow health team have been exposed in The Times (19 August) as being closely involved with private health interests.

Former surgeon, Lord McColl is a non-executive chairman of Endeavour Health. The company funds private GPs in direct competition with the NHS. Charging £60-£100 to see a GP and up to £160 for a home visit, an undercover Times journalist revealed that when he contacted the service saying he was concerned about swine flu, he was charged £99 and then told to contact the national flu helpline!

The Tories tried to rebut the claims by saying that the interests were fully declared in the public domain. Oh no, they’re not.  The biography of Lord McColl on the Conservative Party’s website makes no mention of these connections at all. The website mentions all the feel-good stuff about his work in Africa, but nothing about the private health connections. Talk about spin!

Another of the Tories exposed was Baroness Trish Morris. So I checked her biog on the Tory website. It makes no mention that she is president of the World Travel Market. In November they will host a conference on ‘the opportunities for both inbound and outbound medical tourism in the UK’.

It does make you wonder how many more Tories have outside interests that are in direct conflict with public services. Are there any of the education team connected to private education, for example?

The Times also reported that Boston and Skegness MP, Mark Simmonds went to Boston courtesy BUPA – the private health insurance firm – at a cost of more than £4,500.

The Lord and Baroness should quit the Tory health team or quit their roles in organisations that private health care and undermine the NHS. If they don’t, then its casts doubt on the credibility of anything they say about our health service. As I said in my previous posting (Health of Nations), the Tories are much more right-wing on health than they care to admit.

20 August 2009