Unison head pleased with privatisation limit motion

Unison’s general secretary has expressed his pleasure in winning a Labour Party motion to call on the government to reduce the rate of the “marketisation” of the NHS.

Dave Prentis described the health service as the “jewel in our crown” and said that the vote signified a “new direction of travel”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s PM programme, Mr Prentis claimed that the so-called privatisation measures taken by the government had little support among workers or the public.

He stated: “We want to draw attention to the deficiencies in the current modernisation programme and the conference is with us.”

Regarding the government’s health service policies of the last six months, Mr Prentis said: “It doesn’t have the support of local people, it’s leading to job losses, it’s leading towards closures.”

The government has denied that it is privatising the health service and claims that recent measures, such as the decision to employ DHL in place of NHS Logistics, would bear cost savings and improve efficiency.