Labour leadership hopeful Owen Smith is to hit out at the threat of creeping privatisation in the NHS, highlighting Department of Health accounts showing that spending on private-sector NHS providers has doubled under the Conservatives. Department of Health accounts published on the last day before parliament’s summer recess showed the spend on private-sector NHS providers more than doubled, from more than £4bn in 2009-10 to £8.7bn in 2015-16. During his career as a lobbyist for the US firm, Smith had called on ministers to improve incentives for the pharmaceutical industry. His speech on Monday will attempt to divert attention to his time as shadow health minister, saying that he “fought the Tories’ top-down reorganisation of the NHS line by line”. He will focus his efforts on health policy a day after Corbyn’s announcement about plans for a national education service based on NHS principles.

Source: The Guardian August 14, 2016 23:01 UTC