Unison says health service is in 'critical' condition

Health union Unison has warned the government that the NHS is in "condition critical".

In a keynote speech at a seminar organised by the Fabian Society in London tonight, the union’s general secretary, Dave Prentis, will tell the invited audience that the NHS was almost "dead on arrival by the time the Tories had finished with it". He will also call on the Labour government to follow up its cash injection with a more "holistic approach" to patient care.

Mr Prentis will tell the audience: "If I was the doctor and the NHS my patient I'd say its condition was critical.

"The government's new mantra is choice, but if that choice is simply reintroducing the internal market into the NHS, then their plan is doomed. Doomed because they will simply be repeating the mistakes of the Tory past."

Mr Prentis says that the government’s proposed foundation hospitals are "elitist" and there must be a move away from the "pick and mix" approach to improving patient care.

He will add that foundation hospitals act as magnets drawing staff and resources away from surrounding hospitals. The non-foundation trusts will find it harder and harder to attract patients and investment in the NHS will spiral downwards, he will say.

"The real challenge facing the government today, is of creating a climate of co-operation where trusts share good practice, instead of jealously guarding the secrets of their success in case they miss out to their neighbour in a bidding war for more special government funding," according to Mr Prentis.

(GMcG)