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Corbyn promises ‘fully publicly funded’ NHS if elected leader

Corbyn promises ‘fully publicly funded’ NHS if elected leader
24 August 2016



Jeremy Corbyn has pledged to “renationalise” the NHS if he is elected as Labour leader.

In a speech at University College Hospital in London, the leadership candidate said privatisation and outsourcing “don’t just erode the founding principles of the NHS – they’re actually a terrible waste of resources.”

Jeremy Corbyn has pledged to “renationalise” the NHS if he is elected as Labour leader.

In a speech at University College Hospital in London, the leadership candidate said privatisation and outsourcing “don’t just erode the founding principles of the NHS – they’re actually a terrible waste of resources.”

He said: “PFI is robbing money from patient care across the country. NHS trusts are spending vast resources in servicing debt. Social care is being sold to the highest bidder, it’s become disjointed, starved of resources rather than being the integrated, comprehensive service it has to be.

“Too often, there are email disputes between hospitals and local authorities about who is going to care for somebody rather than ensuring they’re cared for as quickly as possible.”

In 2015, it was reported that private finance initiative (PFI) debts – when a private company builds a hospital and rents it back to the NHS – costs the health service £2 billion every year.

Corbyn went on to pledge that the next Labour government will do more than reverse cuts imposed by the Conservative government and deliver an integrated “modern health and social care service” that is publicly provided and funded.

“Health, health financing and health inequality is a matter of paramount national importance,” he said.

“The Labour government I lead will ensure that money goes to patients not contractors and that our NHS is given the resources to provide a top quality service as part of a program to rebuild and transform Britain so no-one is left behind."

Corbyn’s comments come after Owen Smith MP, Corbyn’s opponent in the leadership race, said earlier this month that he would introduce a tax on people earning over £150,000 to raise £3 billion a year, in part, for the NHS.

Following the speech, a Conservative Party spokesman said: "Whoever wins their leadership contest, Labour are too incompetent and divided to build the strong economy a strong NHS needs."

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